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« 


/ 









/ ■ 










THE RIGHT START! A GOOD BREAKFAST 

















































































HAPPY HEALTH 
STORIES 


BY 


MILDRED HOUGHTON COMFORT 

n 


Author of 

PETER AND NANCY IN EUROPE 


Illustrated by 

LUDWIG and REGINA 



BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY 

CHICAGO 




Dedicated to 
Jimmie and Nancy 


V/^37 

Cg^'j 


o 


COPYRIGHT, 1934, BY BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

©CH 71261 

APR 10 1934 





Zlke Stories 

PAGE 

The Right Start.9 

The Kindly Hen.16 

“Raw! Raw! Raw!”.22 

Crusty.29 

Clinkers.37 

Peelings.45 

Recess and the Body Builder.52 

Frosty.57 

The Strong Friend.63 

The Surprising Soup.69 

Little Butter Ball.75 

The Circus Drinks.81 

The Small Tiger.87 

Rough Stuff.93 

The Stomach Brush.99 

Just Desserts.105 

King Water.112 

The Nutcracker Boy.118 

Drinking Street.124 


5 





















6 


THE STORIES 


PAGE 


The Magic Iron Men.130 

The Queer Vita-Mins.134 

Too Much Steam.140 

The Vegetable Rivals.147 

The Health Crusade.153 

About the Book.160 









Eo €berj> Cfnlfo 

This book is written for all children who wish 
to be healthy and happy. 

Perhaps you never saw a vegetable-fed tiger or 
a little Butter Ball or a Vita-Min mother, but 
you’ll find them living in Happy Health Stories. 

You might like to learn what the cow means 
when she says “moo,” or what the lima beans are 
trying to tell you when the wind rustles their 
leaves. You’ll find it all in Happy Health Stories. 

And after you’ve read your little book you’ll 
make good use of the things you have learned, I’m 
sure of that. How happy I should be if each one of 
you became a Knight or a Lady in the Health 
Crusade! 

The Author 


7 
























THE RIGHT START 


The birds sang cheerily in the apple tree outside 
the children’s windows. The delicate fragrance of 
the blossoms blew through the wavy curtains. 

“Time to get up, children!” Mother called. “You 
know what a right start means.” 

They did know. Betty remembered the morning 
she had snuggled down a little too long. She had 
not had time to eat anything but a bit of toast, 
and she had eaten that on the run. Nothing had 
gone right that morning. There was a queer, gone 
feeling at the pit of her stomach that would not 
let her study. She had felt peevish, too, and had 
been cross to her chum. It was all because she had 
not made a right start. 

Jimmie, too, remembered the morning he had 
snuggled down for one more doze. He had picked 
up a piece of coffee cake for his breakfast. Nothing 
had gone right for him that morning. His stomach 
had felt so out-of-sorts that he could not figure 
out his arithmetic problems. All he could think of 
9 


10 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


was the good, wholesome cereal he might have had 
if he had left his bed when Mother called. 

Now, with the sun shining and the birds singing, 
Betty sprang out of her comfortable bed. On the 
porch outside, Jimmie rolled out of his. They dressed 
themselves, brushed their teeth, washed their faces 
and hands, and combed their hair. 

Their faces were shining with happiness when 
they came to the table. 

“O Mother,” Betty exclaimed, “you have a model 
breakfast, just like the one we have pictures of in 
school.” 

“Yes, so it is,” Jimmie cried. “Half an orange 
for each of us, oatmeal with milk, toasted whole¬ 
wheat bread, sweet butter, and milk. Mm—mm! 
Mm—mm!” 

While the children were eating their oatmeal, 
Billy and his sister Gladys stopped in to call for 
them. 

“Glad we don’t have to eat oatmeal,” Billy 
bragged. “Sometimes we don’t have to eat any 
breakfast food, but most of the time it’s the crispy, 
cold kind.” 


THE RIGHT START 


11 


“Miss Brown says we should have a warm cereal,” 
Gladys offered, “but I get tired of oatmeal. I wish 
I liked it better, because it warms you on the 
inside just like sunshine warms you on the out¬ 
side.” 

“We don’t always have oatmeal,” Betty spoke up, 
as she buttered her whole-wheat toast. “Mother 
gives us steamed whole wheat sometimes. We often 
have a good, cooked, rye cereal. In the winter time 
there’s corn-meal mush. Grandpa says it heats you 
up as well as a stove.” 

“I like the hot barley cereal best,” Jimmie added. 

“I’m going to tell Mother about the different hot 
cereals,” Billy said. “Your oatmeal looks good after 
all.” 

“Sit up and have a dish,” Mother invited. 

It was surprising how quickly the invitation was 
accepted. And Billy and Gladys left their blue 
bowls empty. They looked as happy as Jimmie and 
Betty when they started off to school. 

Miss Brown returned their sunny smiles as she 
exclaimed, “It looks as though we’d have quite a 
few people in King Health’s castle this morning.” 


12 HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 

When the time came for the outdoor games, Miss 
Brown asked, “How many brushed their teeth this 
morning? All those who have done so may enter 
King Health’s doors.” 

Miss Brown had drawn a line on the playground 
to indicate the door. All the children ran to the 
line. 

“How many ate fruit this morning?” she in¬ 
quired. 

The fruit eaters ran to the next line, which was 
King Health’s entrance hall. Beyond were the 
swings and slides. 

“Now for the main hall!” cried Miss Brown. 
“The test is long and hard. Try to remember. 
Here are the questions: 

“ ‘How many drank four glasses of water since 
this time yesterday? 

“ ‘How many of you ate at least one vegetable 
besides potatoes? 

“ ‘How many of you drank at least three glasses 
of milk since this time yesterday? 

“ ‘How many spent most of the hours after school 
out-of-doors? 


THE RIGHT START 


13 


“ ‘How about baths? Did you have two baths this 
past week with warm water and soap? 

“ ‘How many slept all night with the window 
open?’ ” 

“I did better than that,” Jimmie put in. “I slept 
on the porch, where there are no windows at all.” 

Miss Brown laughed and so did the children. 

“And now the last and most important ques¬ 
tion!” Miss Brown paused for a moment. “How 
many made the right start this morning by eating 
a hot, cooked cereal for breakfast?” 

There was a good deal of talking among the chil¬ 
dren about these things. 

“Just a moment,” Miss Brown said. “All those 
who can answer, ‘I did,’ to each of my questions 
may enter King Health’s castle.” 

Such a wild scramble for slides and swings! 
Such merry laughter! Those who could not enter 
gathered around the sand table, promising them¬ 
selves that next time they would remember the 
Good Health rules. 

“Aren’t we lucky!” cried Betty to Jimmie as she 
slid down the long slide. 


14 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



“Lucky?” Jimmie asked. “We’re sensible, if you 
ask me.” 

“Glad we stopped at your house this morning,” 
said Billy, grinning. “That’s the way I came to be 
in the castle.” 

“After this,” Gladys promised, “I’m going to eat 
a cooked, warm cereal every day. It makes me feel 
so well.” 

“Oatmeal ‘sticks to your ribs’ the longest,” said 
Jimmie. “Steamed whole wheat and corn meal are 
both good.” 

“Yes,” added Betty, “but you will enjoy the rye 
and barley cereals now and then for a change.” 







THE RIGHT START 


15 


A Little Play 

How would you like to make The Right Start into 
a little play? There will be six characters and as 
many extra children as you wish. Plan on two 
scenes and use the words in the story. 

Here are the characters: 

Mother Jimmie Gladys 

Betty Billy Miss Brown. 

Scene 1. The kitchen in the home of Jimmie 
and Betty. All you will need will be a table, four 
chairs and four cereal bowls. Perhaps the little 
girl who plays Betty could bring her doll dishes. 
Would you really need cereal? or could you just 
pretend? 

Begin by having Betty enter with Jimmie while 
Mother busies herself at the table. End the 
scene with the four children starting off to 
school. 

Scene II. The School Playground. If you must 
play indoors, mark off the rooms of King 
Health’s Castle with chalk. If you play out¬ 
doors, mark the rooms off with a stick. 


THE KINDLY HEN 


Jimmie and Betty watched Grandpa’s wagon until 
it disappeared in the dust down the road. Grandpa 
and Grandma had gone to town. The men were 
making hay in the fields. No one was at home but 
Gretchen, the maid, and she was busy in the 
kitchen. 

“Cut, cut! Ca-tah cut! Cut, cut, cut!” 

“Old hens!” Betty scolded. “If it weren’t for 
those noisy old hens, we could have gone to town. 
They make me tired. I wonder what that loud 
cackling is about.” 

“A hen bragging because she has laid an egg,” 
Jimmie said. “As if that were so wonderful!” 

“Well, she’s telling the world about it,” Betty 
sighed. “Usually I like the hens and I like to 
gather the eggs and deliver them. But not to-day! 
It’s so warm, and I did want to go to town.” 

Half an hour later, however, Betty was laughing 
as she shooed a startled hen from her nest in the 
sweet hay in the barn. In the coop Jimmie was 
16 


THE KINDLY HEN 


17 



placing each of the new-laid eggs carefully in the 
basket Gretchen had given him. When Betty added 
those she had found, there would be plenty to fill 
the orders for the Country Hospital, for Doctor 
Platt and for Mrs. Henderson, who was taking care 
of her sister’s three delicate city children. 

It was only a short walk to the Country Hos¬ 
pital. A pleasant woman with a starched cap met 
the children at the door. She beamed when she 
saw the fresh eggs. 














18 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“What would we do without the kindly hen?” 
she exclaimed. “There is no natural food that has 
so much nourishment in so small a space.” 

“I’d never thought of that,” said Betty. 

“Hadn’t you, indeed, dear?” the nurse said. 
“Why, eggs have often saved my patients’ lives. 
I’ve served them coddled, poached, in eggnogs and 
in custards. I can always find a way they like 
them.” 

The children walked more thoughtfully toward 
Doctor Platt’s. The white-haired doctor had just 
finished making his calls and was working busily 
in his garden. 

“Hello, there!” he called, when he saw Jimmie 
and Betty with their basket. “What have we here? 
Oh, eggs! What would we do without the kindly 
hen?” 

“That’s exactly what the nurse said at the Coun¬ 
try Hospital,” Jimmie remarked. 

“Well, she knew what she was talking about,” 
the doctor said. 

“What’s an egg made of, Doctor?” Betty asked. 

“Sit down on the bench, children,” Doctor Platt 


THE KINDLY HEN 


19 


invited, “and I’ll try to tell you. First, there’s the 
white of the egg. In school you call it—” 

“Albumin,” supplied Jimmie. 

“Good!” cried the doctor. “The albumin is pro¬ 
tein, the same as meat. The yolk contains protein, 
too, as well as fat, and some valuable mineral salts. 
Eggs may well take the place of both lean and fat 
meats.” 

“Grandma serves them lots of times in place of 
meat,” Betty offered. 

“She’s a wise grandma,” said Doctor Platt. 

“Well,” declared Jimmie, as they left the doctor’s 
garden, “the old hen wasn’t so far wrong after 
all, was she?” 

“No wonder she boasted about what she could 
do,” Betty said. 

Mrs. Henderson seemed as pleased with the eggs 
as the nurse and the doctor had been. 

“I promised the children custard for supper,” 
she said, when she saw Jimmie and Betty at the 
back door. “They must have nourishing and di¬ 
gestible desserts. Oh, what would we do without 
the kindly hen?” 


20 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


Both Betty and Jimmie burst into laughter. 

“That’s just what the nurse at the hospital 
said,” Betty explained. 

“And it’s just what Doctor Platt said,” Jimmie 
added. 

Two little girls and a little boy appeared behind 
Mrs. Henderson. 

“I like fresh eggs,” one of the little girls said. 

“Where do you get them?” asked the other little 
girl. 

“From the kindly hen,” Betty answered. 

“Wish I could see the hens!” the little boy cried. 
“What do they say?” 

“Cut, cut! Ca-tah cut! Cut, cut, cut!” mimicked 
Jimmie. 

“And what does it mean?” inquired the little boy. 

“It means,” answered Betty soberly, looking 
around at the children, “here’s the most food in 
the least space in the very best form.” 


THE KINDLY HEN 


21 


The Three Talks 

Can you imitate the hen by saying, “Cut, cut! 
Ca-tah cut! Cut, cut, cut!”? What do you suppose 
she really is saying? 

Suppose you act out the talks Jimmie and Betty 
had with the three people in the story. Use the same 
words. 

First Talk. The talk with the Nurse . Could you 
make a paper cap like a nurse’s cap? Have you 
a white apron to wear with it? Perhaps you 
could make a little paper apron, too, of paper 
napkins. 

Second Talk. The talk with the Doctor . If you 
haven’t spectacles, could you make some of 
wire? You must look very wise if you are going 
to play doctor! 

Third Talk. The talk with Mrs. Henderson and 
the two little girls and the one little boy who 
live with her. Mrs. Henderson would have 
smoothly combed hair, and she would wear a 
big apron over her neat dress. She would be 
motherly-looking. 


“RAW! RAW! RAW!” 


The boys were playing ball. Betty watched them 
from the side lines. She did hope that her brother 
Jimmie would be chosen for the team. Just one 
new place to fill! 

Her serious face became sober indeed when Jim¬ 
mie walked slowly toward her. He was drawing 
on his sweater. 

“Oh, didn’t they choose you, Jimmie?” she asked. 

“Nope!” replied her brother, whistling as if he 
didn’t care. 

“Whom did they choose?” Betty asked. 

“That boy over there, the tall one with the dark 
hair and red cheeks. He’s chewing a raw carrot. 
Bob’s his name.” 

It was not hard to pick out the winner. He 
looked like a winner. He was so straight and sturdy 
that Betty could not help admiring him. Besides, 
he had strong-looking white teeth. They crunched 
and crunched the carrot and made you wish you 
had a raw carrot, too! 


22 


raw! raw! raw! 


23 


“Well,” Betty observed, “he looks as if he’d help 
the school win.” 

“He’s a good sport, too,” Jimmie admitted. “He 
said maybe they could use me for an extra player. 
He told me to come over to his house after practice 
and he’d give me some tips on my wind.” 

“I’ll go with you,” Betty offered. “Maybe I’ll get 
some tips, too. The girls are going to have a track 
team.” 

“All right,” Jimmie agreed. “Come along, if you 
like.” 

As soon as the boys had finished practicing, Bob 
called to Jimmie. The two boys started up the road 
with Betty between them. Bob talked all the way 
home. 

“My father’s a dentist,” he told them, “and he 
says that if we’d eat more raw food, we’d have bet¬ 
ter teeth and better stomachs.” 

“And better wind, too, I suppose,” Jimmie re¬ 
marked. 

“Yes, and better wind,” Bob agreed. 

They had reached Bob’s garden patch. Bob pulled 
up a few radishes, a carrot here and there, and 


24 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



THEY WASHED OFF THE VEGETABLES 


at last a stalk of celery about which the moist, dark 
straw was piled to bleach it. Betty and Jimmie 
watched him with great interest. 

Bob took the vegetables over to the pump. 

“Let me work it,” Jimmie begged. 

While Jimmie worked the handle up and down, 
Betty held the vegetables under the running water. 
Bob, in the meantime, had climbed the crab-apple 
tree and returned with his pockets full of firm, 













raw! raw! raw! 


25 


red crab apples. Then he clambered up a ladder to 
a shed roof where hazelnuts were ripening in 
the sun. 

Next he ran to the house for a basket and re¬ 
turned to pack the vegetables in it, with the apples 
and nuts on top. 

“Here you are!” he said, handing the basket to 
Jimmie. 

“Thank you!” Jimmie said, and Betty added, 
“Thank you, but you haven’t given us the ‘tips.’ ” 

“The ‘tips’ are in the basket,” Bob laughed. 

“You mean—?” Jimmie asked, puzzled. 

“I mean my tip for feeling fine is to eat raw 
food,” Bob said. “If you’re hungry between meals, 
eat an apple, an orange or a pear, or even a crisp, 
raw vegetable like carrots or celery, instead of a 
candy bar.” 

“It would be much cheaper,” Jimmie said, think¬ 
ing of all the nickels he had spent for candy bars. 

“We could save enough to buy a handball for 
ourselves, couldn’t we, Jimmie?” Betty cried. She, 
too, was thinking of the nickels she had spent on 
sweets. 


26 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



“You’ll be surprised how good old Dame Nature’s 
food tastes, too,” Bob offered, “and it’ll surely help 
your wind.” 

As Jimmie and Betty walked toward home, they 
nibbled on the fresh, crisp vegetables. Their teeth 
crunched and crunched. 

“Funny,” said Jimmie, “but I’m just as hungry 
for supper as ever. I never was when I ate candy 
bars.” 

A few weeks later Bob’s two friends were as busy 
as he, running and jumping and getting ready for 
the final games. 

As Jimmie came down the stretch on the play- 









raw! raw! raw! 


27 


ground, he ran faster than any of his classmates. 
Bob yelled, “ ’Rah! ’Rah! ’Rah! ’Rah for Jimmie!” 

Later, while Jimmie and Bob both watched, Bet¬ 
ty came tearing down the stretch, ahead of all the 
rest. 

With one voice the boys shouted, “ ’Rah! ’Rah! 
’Rah! ’Rah for Betty!” 

Betty’s eyes were shining when she ran over to 
them. 

“You really should yell, 'Raw! Raw! Raw!’” she 
said. 

Because they both understood what she meant, 
Jimmie and Bob laughed heartily with Betty. 


28 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Raw Fruit and Vegetable Game 

Let us all stand in a circle. The leader stands in 
the center. He says, '‘Radishes (or some other “raw” 
vegetable) are a good vegetable to eat raw.” 

Then he points to some one in the circle and says, 
“Name a fruit that is eaten raw.” 

The one chosen declares, “Grapes (or any other 
raw fruit) are a good fruit to eat raw.” 

The leader takes the place of the one he has point¬ 
ed out, and the chosen one takes the place as leader. 
Then this new leader says, “Celery (or some other 
vegetable) is very good to eat raw.” He now points 
to another who must respond with the name of a 
raw fruit. 

Names of fruits and vegetables that are eaten raw 
alternate. 

If any one fails to name a new fruit or vegetable 
that is eaten raw, he must sit down. The last one 
left standing is the winner of the game. 

If you try to think of all the fruits and vegetables 
eaten raw that you know before beginning the game, 
you will be most apt to win. 


CRUSTY 


“Pst! Pst!” 

Where did that odd sound come from? Betty, 
playing with her dolls under the gnarled oak tree, 
raised her head to listen. 

“Pst! Pst!” 

The sound came again, this time from behind 
the barn. Betty rose, whirled about, and dropped 
her dolls as Jimmie beckoned. 

“What’s the matter?” she asked, as she ran 
toward him. “What are you doing back here?” 

“Grandma said she’d call me as soon as Crusty 
arrived,” Jimmie explained. “To tell you the truth, 
I’m hiding.” 

“I don’t blame you.” Betty agreed with Jimmie 
this time. “Anybody that has the nickname of 
Crusty can’t be very pleasant to play with. Just 
because Mrs. Bruce has been kind to Grandma is 
no reason why we should be so nice to her cross 
little boy. I suppose we ought to wait for him, 
but—” 


29 


30 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



BETTY FOLLOWED JIMMIE DOWN THE PATH 


“Wait for Crusty?” Jimmie cried. “And spoil our 
whole afternoon? Let’s pick berries.” 

Betty looked at the shiny pails hanging over 
Jimmie’s arm. 

“That’s a good idea,” she said and followed her 
brother down the path behind the barn toward 
the shady woods. Never once did she look back. 

Jimmie and Betty did not feel exactly happy. 
Grandma had been very kind to them and this was 
the first favor she had asked. If only the little 
boy had not been named Crusty ! 

“I have half a mind to go back,” Betty said, 






CRUSTY 


31 


after she had picked a pailful of ripe berries. 

“So have I,” Jimmie agreed. “I shouldn’t have 
run away—Crusty or no Crusty!” 

Just at that moment the children heard a 
cheery “Hello!” from the direction of the bushes. 
Brother and sister both squinted to see more 
clearly. It did look queer, but at first all they could 
catch was a glimpse of a smiling mouth with white 
teeth. Then, when they shaded their eyes with 
their hands, they saw a pair of happy brown eyes 
back of the lacy branches. 

“Hello! Hello!” Jimmie and Betty returned the 
cheery greeting. 

At that the boy with the smiling mouth and 
happy brown eyes scrambled down the bank and 
in a moment was beside them in the road. He was 
barefooted and dressed in overalls. In one hand he 
carried a covered basket. 

“How’s the berrying?” he inquired. 

“Fine!” Jimmie replied and showed the boy the 
berries he had picked. Betty offered her pail with 
an invitation to help himself. 

“Thanks!” said the boy, “but I’ve been eating 















CRUSTY 


33 


plenty on the way. What’s your name? and 
yours?” 

“Jimmie’s my name,” said Jimmie, “and this is 
my sister Betty.” 

“Good!” said the boy. “I’m Ned.” 

“What’s in your basket?” Jimmie asked curi¬ 
ously. 

“Lunch,” was the reply. “There’s plenty for 
three. Come on. I know a better place than this 
to gather berries.” 

Such a merry time as they did have! No matter 
how steep the hillside or how prickly the berry 
bushes, the boy never complained. He helped Betty 
up the steep places and made a bridge of rocks 
across a shallow brook so that the children would 
not get their shoes wet. 

When the sun was high in the sky, Ned opened 
his lunch basket. There was roast country chicken 
and well-baked bread, spread with sweet butter. 
There were crisp radishes and salt in a paper sack. 
For dessert the children found red apples and 
little ginger cakes. 

It was not until they had eaten every bit of 



“why do they call you crusty?"’ 

















CRUSTY 


35 


Ned’s lunch that Betty looked suddenly startled. 

“Oh,” she cried, “Grandma will be worried! 
She’ll expect us back by noon.” 

“Oh, no, she won’t,” Ned said. “I stopped there 
first. She said if I found you it would be all right.” 

“Did she say ‘All right’?” Jimmie’s face was red. 
“Wel-1, I—I was supposed to stay home and play 
with Crusty.” 

“Why, I’m Crusty,” Ned said. “I thought you 
knew. My name is Ned Bruce, but they call me 
Crusty.” 

“Why—why do they call you Crusty?” Betty 
stammered. “You aren’t one bit disagreeable.” 

“They call me Crusty because I like crusty bread 
so well,” Ned explained. 

“Is that what makes your teeth so firm and 
white,” Jimmie asked, “and you so cheerful?” 

Ned blushed and said, “That’s what the school 
dentist says. He says using your jaws to chew 
your food helps your teeth and your stomach and 
your disposition, too.” 


36 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


An Out-of-Door Play 

The story of Crusty could be made into a little 
out-of-door play. If you can’t play it out-of-doors, 
draw a picture of some trees on the blackboard and 
sit beneath it. 

This play will need two scenes and just three chil¬ 
dren to play it. 

The first scene is under a big oak tree. Betty is 
playing with her dolls. She hears a sound, “Pst! 
Pst!” 

From this point on, act the story just as it is told. 
The first scene ends when the new boy offers to 
show Jimmie and Betty a better place to gather 
berries. 

The second scene, which is very short, shows the 
three children resting under a tree after eating 
lunch. Begin the scene when Betty says she is afraid 
Grandma will be worried if they do not return to 
the house by noon. Close the scene just as it is 
closed in the story. 

Who was Crusty? Have you some one in your 
school who could play his part well? 


CLINKERS 


The furnace man had been called to see why 
the fire didn’t draw. The weather was cold and 
clear, and the fire should have burned brightly. 
There was plenty of coal. There was plenty of 
draft. There was plenty of room in the fire pot for 
a good hot fire. 

But for some reason the fire did not burn well. 

Jimmie and Betty, building a snow man in the 
yard, ran to meet the furnace man. He had a little 
boy with him, a thin little boy whose nose was blue 
with cold. 

“Hello!” Jimmie greeted the boy. “What’s your 
name? Want to play with us? Know how to make 
a snow man?” 

“I’m Herman, but they call me Stuffy,” offered 
the little boy. “No, I don’t want to play outdoors. 
It’s too cold to make snow men.” 

“Stuffy!” Betty exclaimed. “Why do they call 
you Stuffy? You don’t look a bit as if you were 
stuffed.” 


37 


38 HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 

“No,” Jimmie agreed. “You are not a fat boy, 
Herman, or even a plump one.” 

“They call me Stuffy because I’m always stuffing 
myself, I suppose,” Herman explained. “I like 
lunches. ’Most all the time I’m eating.” 

Cold as it was, Herman reached in his pocket 
and brought out a great piece of yellow cake which 
he began to eat. 

“Why aren’t you strong and plump, Stuffy?” Jim¬ 
mie asked. “Why aren’t your cheeks red? Why—” 

“We’re fairly starved every meal,” Betty put in. 
“We aren’t allowed to lunch except to have milk at 
recess in the morning and a piece of whole-wheat 
bread and butter and an apple after school.” 

“I’m never hungry at mealtime,” Herman said. 
“I can eat hardly anything then.” 

Just then the furnace man came up out of the 
cellar. 

“What was the matter with the fire?” Jimmie in¬ 
quired of him. 

“Clinkers,” was all the furnace man said. “Better 
play here a while, Herman. The next stop is a long 
walk. Too long for you.” 


CLINKERS 


39 


“All right/’ Herman agreed, but sat down shiv¬ 
ering. He still nibbled at his cake, not as though he 
enjoyed it, but as though chewing at something 
was a habit. 

“Get up and run around and warm up,” Jimmie 
advised. “Here’s our dog, Shep. Down, Shep! Oh, 
he’s gobbled up your cake!” 

The collie jumped about and barked, nosing Her¬ 
man for more cake. 

“Oh, but he’s a fine dog!” Herman exclaimed, 
and reached in first one pocket and then another. 
“Here’s a piece of candy. How high he can jump! 
Here’s the rest of a meat sandwich. No more, Shep! 
That’s all I have.” 

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jimmie exclaimed all of a 
sudden. “I promised Grandma I’d bring the yarn 
out to her that she left here yesterday. Want to 
go along, Stuffy?” 

“You’ll like Grandma’s,” Betty said. “It’s right 
on the edge of town and almost like a farm.” 

“If you’re going to take the dog,” Stuffy said, 
“I’d like to go.” 

The walks were packed with firm, white snow. 


40 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



THE COLLIE WANTED MORE CAKE 


The children’s feet crunched and squeaked pleas¬ 
antly. 

The dog jumped about them and chased here 
and there. 

“Must be getting warmer,” Stuffy remarked. 

“It’s you who are getting warmer,” Betty de¬ 
clared. 

“Some of your food is doing you some good now. 
It’s burning up like a coal instead of staying in 
your stomach, like a clinker in a furnace.” 

“Burning up?” asked Stuffy in surprise. 

“Sure,” put in Jimmie. “Food is fuel. You know 









CLINKERS 


41 


that maybe, even with all your lunches, you 
aren’t getting enough of the kind that burns well.” 

“I don’t eat much at mealtime,” Stuffy ad¬ 
mitted. 

“The doctor who visits us at school,” Betty 
offered, “said that the underweight and under¬ 
nourished children were those that lunched.” 

“I wonder why,” asked Stuffy. 

“Too much fuel would choke the fire,” Jimmie 
remarked. 

“Yes, that’s so,” agreed Stuffy. “I’m not going 
to lunch between meals after this. At least not 
unless I’m very, very hungry. Well, I’m hungry 
right now.” 

“You just think you are,” Jimmie laughed. 

“You’ll have to wait until noon,” Betty said. 

And wait Stuffy did. When Grandma served 
the noon meal, Stuffy for once had his share of 
wholesome food and what’s more, enjoyed his food 
at mealtime. 

“No more between-meal lunches for me after 
this!” Stuffy promised Betty and Jimmie. 

And this time he really meant it. 


42 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



“NO MORE BETWEEN-MEALS LUNCHES for me!” 


But old habits are hard to break. After the first 
mile on the way home, Stuffy began to complain. 

“Wish I hadn’t fed my candy to your dog,” he 
grumbled. 

“You don’t need candy after Grandma’s good 
bread pudding,” Betty said, smiling. 

The air was fresh and bracing. But Stuffy could 
enjoy neither the delightful cold nor the fairy like 
woods with their beautiful snow. 

“Your dog gobbled up my cake,” he reminded 
his new friends. “And I’m hungry enough right 
now to finish that sandwich I gave him.” 




CLINKERS 


43 


“I’m glad Shep ate it,” Jimmie declared, stoutly. 
“You’re not really hungry. You only think you are.” 

“It’s just because you eat between meals that 
you want to lunch now,” said Betty. “We don’t feel 
hungry because we always eat more at mealtime.” 

“Yes,” added Jimmie, “and the good meal, with 
hot meat and fresh vegetables, bread and butter, 
with milk to drink, and dessert, is enough to last 
for hours.” 

“I know,” said Stuffy. “And I enjoyed every 
mouthful because I was hungry.” 

“That was because Shep stole your sandwich!” 
laughed Jimmie. 

Stuffy sighed, but he knew Jimmie was right. 


44 HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 

Stuffy’s Bad Habit 

What are clinkers? What do they do to a fire? 
Why are extra lunches for children like clinkers in 
a furnace? 

Was Stuffy a good name for Herman? What did 
he have in his pockets? 

Why did it seem to Herman that it was getting 
warmer as he walked along the country road? Has 
such a thing ever happened to you? 

Can you explain how it was that Herman didn’t 
really get enough to eat even though he had so 
many lunches? 

Let’s act out the very last little scene on the road 
home. Begin with Stuffy’s saying, “Wish I hadn’t 
fed my candy to your dog.” All you will need for 
this scene will be winter wraps. If you can’t play it 
outdoors, suppose you draw a snow scene on the 
blackboard and act the little scene in front of it. 
If we haven’t scenery, we can make it, can’t we? 

Why was Stuffy’s habit so hard to break? 

Do you think he really would stop eating between 
meals? 


PEELINGS 


As the garbage boy came down the walk from 
Arnold’s house, he met Jimmie and Betty. Both 
were busily eating bright red apples. 

“No chance of finding apple peelings in your 
garbage can!” he said, in his jolly voice. “I see you 
eat them.” 

“Doesn’t everybody eat apples with the peelings 
on?” Betty asked. 

“I don’t like peeled apples,” Jimmie remarked 
and bit again into the firm, red cheek of his apple. 

“Say,” said the garbage boy, “you ought to see 
the cans all full of bright red peelings and thick 
potato parings and even pieces of radishes and 
celery.” 

“We often have potatoes cooked with the jack¬ 
ets on,” Betty said. “Mother says the best part is 
next the skin.” 

“Sometimes we even eat the skins of baked po¬ 
tatoes,” Jimmie added. “They’re roughage, our 
teacher says.” 


45 


46 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



Arnold, a pale, slender boy, came along just as 
the garbage boy was carrying the last pail out to 
his wagon. Arnold sat down sadly on the steps. 

“What’s the matter?” asked the garbage boy. 

“What’s the matter?” inquired Betty and Jimmie. 

“I don’t feel very peppy,” Arnold complained. 
“I’d like to play and tramp in the woods, but I’m 
too tired.” 

“If your garbage pails were lighter, your smile 























PEELINGS 


47 


would be brighter,” laughed the garbage boy, and 
went on his way. 

“What nonsense he talks!” Arnold grumbled. 

“It isn’t nonsense,” Jimmy said. 

“No, really, it isn’t nonsense,” Betty agreed. 
“My Grandpa has told us a lot about peelings. 
Won’t you come out to Grandpa’s farm with us?” 

“Peelings! Peelings! Peelings!” Arnold pouted. 
“Why should I learn about peelings? But I would 
like to go.” 

Jimmie and Betty wisely said no more about 
peelings. When Grandpa drove in after lunch with 
his big team, they asked him if they might invite 
Arnold for a week or two. Grandpa said he would 
be glad to have one of the children’s friends as a 
guest. 

However, when Grandpa saw Arnold, he looked 
rather sober. He was very kind to the pale little 
boy and let him sit beside him on the wagon seat. 

“What makes the horses so strong?” asked 
Arnold. “Oats?” 

“Yes, all of the oat,” Grandpa replied. 

“What do you mean?” Arnold asked. 


48 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“I mean/’ said Grandpa, “that every bit of the 
oat is good. Whole oats and whole wheat are both 
good. If the peeling is thrown away, the best part 
is lost.” 

“I never thought about wheat having peelings,” 
Arnold said. “Just apples and potatoes.” 

“I suppose you know what the peeling of wheat 
is, don’t you?” Grandpa asked. 

“Surely!” Arnold replied. “It’s bran.” He was 
glad he knew. 

“We used to feed the bran to the hogs,” Grandpa 
said, “but we know better now. They were better 
fed than we ourselves. And I can remember when 
we used to give our apple peelings to the pigs.” 

“Well, we’ve been throwing ours in the garbage 
can,” Arnold admitted. “I suppose that’s worse 
than throwing it to the pigs.” 

“It surely is.” Grandpa looked at Arnold in 
kindly fashion. “You’re a wise boy, if you will only 
practice what you know.” 

Out in the orchard Arnold found himself eat¬ 
ing apples with Jimmie and Betty, never once 
thinking of a knife. At the table he ate Grandma’s 


PEELINGS 


49 


whole-wheat bread and said, “I like the taste of 
this bread.” 

“That’s because the cook puts all the wheat in— 
even the bran,” Jimmie spoke up. 

“Yes, the bran is the wheat’s peeling,” Betty 
remarked. 

It was not long before Arnold could take long 
walks through the woods with Jimmie and Betty. 
He gathered nuts and even brought up great pails 
of water cress from the brook for Grandma. 

When the day came for Arnold to return to town 
with Jimmie and Betty, he was bright and cheery. 

“You can tell you’ve been on a vacation,” ob¬ 
served Jimmie. 

“I never saw you smile so much,” Betty said. 

A wide grin spread over Arnold’s face. 

“It must be the peelings,” he admitted. “After 
this you will never see the garbage boy grumbling 
over the amount of peelings we throw away.” 

And they never did. 

Soon Arnold was like a ray of sunshine in the 
house. He helped his mother brush the potatoes 
and carrots clean, but he knew better than to peel 


50 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



them. He shouted with joy when he smelled the 
good whole-wheat bread baking. And, whenever 
he brought up a great pan of apples from the cel¬ 
lar, he polished them until they shone. 

“Some peelings,” he declared, “are beautiful as 
well as useful. ,, 

“The fruits are all beautiful,” said Betty. “And 
there is food value in the peel of many of them. 
We learned that in class.’’ 

“Miss Brown says that we should eat fresh fruits 
such as apples and pears and plums, without peel¬ 
ing them,” added Jimmie. “I like them better that 
way. There is more flavor.” 





PEELINGS 


51 


The Pale Little Boy 

Act the first scene of Peelings either inside the 
school building or out-of-doors. 

The characters are: 

The Garbage Boy, in overalls and a cap 

Jimmie 

Betty 

Arnold. 

How does Arnold look? Let us hope that you 
haven't a pale little boy in your room. For the play 
perhaps your teacher will let you have a little white 
talcum powder to make one of the boys look pale. 

Use the words of the story and carry the scene 
through to the point where Arnold decides to visit 
the farm. 

For the second part of our story, suppose we have 
a monologue. Do you know what a monologue is? 
A monologue is a little talk acted out by one person. 

Let Arnold sit down as though he were a guest, 
and listen politely while he tells you what he has 
learned about peelings and how he lost his pale 
cheeks and became red-cheeked and happy. 


RECESS AND THE BODY BUILDER 


“Recess! Recess!” cried the joyful children, as 
they tumbled down the smooth steps and out into 
the sunshine. It was the middle of a bright fall 
morning. The games were very lively. By the time 
the recess bell rang again, everybody was hungry. 

Miss Brown, the teacher, had set the milk bot¬ 
tles from the milkman’s case out on the table. 
From a package wrapped in oiled paper she took 
out the long, shiny straws that looked exactly like 
those at the soda fountains. 

“Come, children!” she cried, and, as they gath¬ 
ered about her, asked, “Why are we drinking milk 
in the middle of the morning?” 

“Because it’s too long to wait until lunch,” Ed¬ 
ward, a tall slim boy, answered. 

The children laughed, but Miss Brown said sober¬ 
ly, “Edward is right. It is too long to wait. Most of 
you are tired by half past ten, and the milk gives 
you new energy.” She was passing out the bottles 
to the children as she spoke. 

52 


RECESS AND THE BODY BUILDER 53 


“I believe I have the most wide-awake room in 
the school,” she said. “How I wish we might be 
one hundred per cent milk drinkers! Some day 
perhaps we shall be.” 

Jimmie and Betty glanced at each other. They 
knew that Miss Brown’s room would never be a 
room of one hundred per cent milk drinkers, while 
Tony felt as he did. 

Tony, the new student, had laughed when Jim¬ 
mie had said, on the way to school that morning, 
“Have you your milk money?” 

“Milk money!” Tony had sneered. “Say, I have 
fifteen cents, but it’s not going for milk. I’m going 
to have a soda and some candy.” 

Betty could not keep still, even though she knew 
Tony would make fun of what she said. 

“Milk is good for your bones and teeth,” she 
began, “and it has everything in it for general good 
health. You ought to drink it, Tony.” 

“Milk’s for babies like you!” Tony remarked. 

“It is not for babies alone!” Betty declared. “The 
football boys drink it and the men at the foundry 
and the girls in the big stores and—” 


54 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Never mind, never mind,” Tony put in. “I can 
grow up without school milk.” 

Betty could not resist one more word or two. 

“Maybe you can,” she agreed, “but you won’t 
grow so big or be so strong.” 

While Miss Brown was passing out the bottles, 
Tony stood near. He wanted to see how this school 
milk business was run, anyway. Later he would 
go across the street to the confectionery store and 
have his soda and candy. He jingled the money 
in his pocket. 

“I wonder,” Miss Brown was saying, “if anyone 
can tell me the value of milk.” 

Now Tony had spent his vacation on his grand¬ 
father’s farm and he had drunk milk with every 
meal. He had seen his grandfather’s pamphlets 
from the University Farm School. Somehow Miss 
Brown’s words seemed familiar. 

“I know!” he cried, coming forward. “Milk is a 
body builder.” 

“Oh, it’s Tony!” Miss Brown exclaimed. She was 
delighted to have this new, bright pupil. 

“The milkman usually leaves one or two bottles 


RECESS AND THE BODY BUILDER 55 



IT WAS FUN DRINKING THROUGH A STRAW 


extra,” she said as she looked over her table. “Yes, 
here’s one for you, Tony.” 

“No, thanks,” replied Tony, backing away. “I 
drank milk all summer on the farm.” 

“That’s why you look so strong. Milk makes mus¬ 
cle,” Miss Brown said. “You want to keep strong, 
don’t you?” 

“Yes, of course,” Tony replied. “But I’d rather 
spend the money Grandpa gave me on soda and 
candy.” 

“This milk is free to-day,” Miss Brown urged. 
“You may as well drink it. It’s an extra bottle. 
And here are graham crackers for everybody, both 















56 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


for those who drink milk and those who do not.” 

Tony took the bottle of cool, rich milk in his 
hands. It did taste good. Besides, it was fun drink¬ 
ing through a straw. Also, there was more pleasure 
drinking with others than in having a soda alone. 

“Going over to the store now?” Jimmie asked 
when Tony had finished his milk. 

“No!” Tony replied. “I feel just right. I'm not 
hungry.” 

“There’s sugar in milk,” Betty said. “Milk sugar. 
And there’s fat, too.” 

“I know there’s everything in it that’s good,” 
Tony admitted. “Well, here’s where my money goes 
to Miss Brown. I suppose milk is about the nicest 
thing I could have for recess.” 

In a few days Tony had acquired the very good 
habit of milk drinking. Now he thought of recess 
not only as a time in which to exercise his legs 
but as a time in which to build his body. Recess 
had a double value. 


FROSTY 


Jimmie’s sturdy legs fairly flew over the grounds 
of the school yard. He was taking the short cut 
home. Betty’s legs were shorter, and she had to 
run even faster than Jimmie to catch up with him. 
To her delight, he stopped suddenly in a little side 
street. Now she could slow down and catch her 
breath before he started on again. 

But he did not start on again. He stood looking 
in at a window—so close that his nose pressed 
against the glass. What could he be staring at in 
the shop? 

Betty called out, “Wait a minute, Jimmie!” But 
she need not have asked him to wait. He had no 
idea of leaving the window. In a few moments Bet¬ 
ty was beside him, and she, too, was gazing in the 
window, her nose pressed hard against the glass. 

It was small wonder that Jimmie and Betty were 
interested. The little room was full of tables. On 
each table were cakes of all shapes and sizes. A 
boy, with his back to them, held a big bowl of 
57 


58 HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 

frosting under his arm and was spreading the rich, 
thick mass on the cakes, one after another. Jimmie 
smacked his lips, and Betty mumbled, “Mm—mm!” 

“Wish I were that boy!” Jimmie sighed. “Wish I 
were that boy!” 

He said it over and over. 

“He seems to need help,” Betty spoke up. “Maybe 
he’d let us help him. Mother said we could play 
for an hour after school.” 

“What a good idea!” cried Jimmie. “Let’s ask 
him.” 

Brother and sister walked quickly around to the 
back door and knocked. No one answered. They 
knocked again. They waited for an answer. Then 
they pounded as loudly as they could. 

“Keep still!” shouted the crossest voice the chil¬ 
dren had ever heard. “Stop bothering!” 

Jimmie pushed open the door just the least bit. 

“Please,” he begged, “let us come in. We don’t 
mean to bother. We—we thought we might be 
able to help you.” 

“Well, all right, then. Come in,” said the peevish 
voice. 


FROSTY 


59 


Betty held back, but Jimmie took her by the 
hand and pulled her in with him. Then he shut 
the door and faced the boy. It was just as well 
that he had already closed the door because, other¬ 
wise, he would have been tempted to step right 
back out again. Never before had Jimmie seen 
such a disagreeable, fretful-looking little boy. His 
face was a greenish-yellow color. His eyes were dull, 
and his mouth turned down instead of up. 

“He looks as if he didn’t feel well,” Betty whis¬ 
pered. 

The boy overheard her. 

“Feel well?” he snapped. “Feel well? Of course 
I don’t feel well.” 

“What’s the matter with you?” Jimmie asked. 

“Matter?” the boy yelled. “Matter? If you can’t 
see what’s the matter, you’re not very bright. They 
call me ‘Frosty.’ ” 

“I don’t see yet,” Jimmie began, when Betty 
spoke up, “You don’t eat the frosting, do you?” 

The boy shuddered. 

“I did,” he admitted. “That’s the trouble. I did. 
I always eat too much. Here! Take an apron and 


60 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


JIMMIE COULD NOT HELP TASTING IT 



help. My mother bakes cakes for people. She was 
called away and I thought I’d help. I often help.” 

Jimmie and Betty began to work. 

Whenever the frosting ran down the sides of a 
cake Jimmie could not help tasting it. Oh, it was 
good! Betty, too, could not help scraping out her 
bowl each time and eating the left-over icings. 

The children frosted the cakes, sometimes with 
white frostings and sometimes with chocolate frost- 
ings and different-colored frostings. They tasted 
this kind and they tasted that. They tasted here 
and they tasted there. It was not long before the 
frostings ceased to look inviting. 













FROSTY 


61 


“A-ha!” cried Frosty. “Look at yourselves in the 
mirror.” 

Betty and Jimmie stared at their reflections. 
They looked rather pale, and they no longer 
smiled. But they did not look quite so bad as 
Frosty. 

“I don’t see why you eat frosting right along,” 
Jimmie said crossly. 

“Nor do I,” Betty pouted. She was as peevish as 
Jimmie. 

“For the same reason that you do,” snapped 
Frosty. “Because it tastes good. Wonder why we 
can’t eat all the frosting we want without having 
to feel so mean.” 

“I know,” Jimmie admitted. “The school nurse 
says that sweets are fuel. If you put too much 
fuel in a stove, the fire doesn’t burn well. It has 
to be poked and stirred up. Here comes your 
mother, Frosty. Ask her if you may hike home 
with us. It will do you good.” 

“Come on, Frosty,” Betty invited. “You need pok¬ 
ing and stirring up. Come out and play a while.” 

Willingly Frosty followed his new friends. 


62 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Pastry Shop 

If you want to give a funny little play that will 
make everybody laugh, suppose you act out the 
story of “Frosty.” 

The scene is a pastry shop. You will need a table, 
three chairs, some little cakes and bowls of frost¬ 
ing. Of course you can make-believe you are using 
frosting, and I suppose you could make cakes out 
of paper. Probably you can get a mirror. 

The characters are: 

Frosty 

Jimmie 

Betty. 

Begin the play with Jimmie and Betty outside, 
and Frosty’s answer to their knock. He says, you 
remember, “Keep still! Stop bothering!” 

Use the exact words in the story for all the 
speeches. 

What sort of a looking little boy would Frosty 
be? Even if the boy chosen for the part were 
naturally pleasant, he could pretend he was very 
disagreeable. 


THE STRONG FRIEND 


Rows and rows and rows of plants, shining in 
the sun! Red and yellow and white! Betty and 
Jimmie stood on the hillside at Grandpa’s farm and 
looked down on the smooth fields of the farm next 
door. What could they be, those long, even rows? 

“Let’s go down and see,” Betty said. “When we 
were here in the summer, they were long, green 
rows. They all looked alike.” 

“I’d like to know myself,” Jimmie agreed. “We 
might go to see Hiram and ask him.” 

Jimmie and Betty scrambled down the hillside, 
ran through the pleasant meadow, and soon reached 
Hiram’s barnyard. When they saw Hiram on a 
lively brown horse, they forgot about the rows of 
plants in the field. 

“Whoa, Spice!” cried Hiram, as he brought the 
plunging horse to a sudden stop. 

“Oh, but you’re strong!” Jimmie exclaimed, look¬ 
ing at the sturdy, tanned boy. “Wish you’d let me 
ride Spice. He looks gentle.” 

63 





HIRAM AND SPICE 

























THE STRONG FRIEND 


65 


“Oh, please let me ride, too!” Betty begged. 
“Couldn’t I ride behind Jimmie?” 

Hiram dismounted and led Spice to the porch. 

“This is the best place to climb up,” Hiram said. 
“Could you reach the stirrups, Jimmie?” 

“I think so,” Jimmie replied and climbed from 
the porch into the saddle, while Hiram held Spice. 

Betty clambered up behind her brother. How far 
it seemed to the ground! How slippery the smooth, 
brown horse felt! What if she should fall off? 

Hiram smiled up at Betty. 

“Not afraid, are you?” he asked. 

“N-n-no!” Betty stammered. “I’d like to ride out 
and see your rows and rows of—” 

Just at that moment Jimmie pulled on the reins, 
and Spice whirled about and tore up the road. 
Betty squealed and grabbed Jimmie. Jimmie 
dropped the reins and grabbed hold of Spice’s 
mane. The horse turned into the field and ran 
wildly, first this way and then that. Why, Spice 
was running away! 

Betty felt wind and dust and sand in her face. 
She closed her eyes. The next thing she knew an- 


66 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


other horse was running alongside of Spice and 
a gentle voice was saying, “Easy there, Spice! Easy 
there, old fellow! You’re all right, Jimmie. You’re 
all right, Betty. Just hold on tight!” 

Hiram, sitting bareback astride a big, white 
horse, was leading Spice back to the barnyard. 

“Sorry,” Hiram said. “Spice never did such a 
thing before.” 

It was not until Jimmie and Betty were back 
safe on the ground that Jimmie said, “We really 
came over to ask you what was in that field.” 

Jimmie pointed to the field where Spice had run 
away. 

“Didn’t you see?” asked Hiram, grinning. 

“N-no,” admitted Jimmie. 

“Didn’t you see, either?” Hiram asked Betty. 

“N-no,” admitted Betty. 

“Then I must show you,” Hiram said. “A strong 
friend lives there.” 

“A strong friend?” brother and sister asked, both 
at once. 

“Yes, a strong, necessary friend,” Hiram said. 
“A friend that’s kind in the spring, in the summer, 


THE STRONG FRIEND 


67 



in the fall and in the winter! A friend that makes 
you feel fine the year around! A friend that’s as 
good as a tonic!” 

“Are you joking?” asked Jimmie. 

“Hiram is so strong himself, he ought to know,” 
Betty said. 

“I do know,” Hiram boasted. 

He led the way to the field over which the horse 
had run with Jimmie and Betty. At the edge the 









68 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


three of them paused, and Betty laughed outright. 
She seized Jimmie’s arm. 

“Onions!” she cried. “Red onions! White onions! 
Yellow onions! All drying in the sun! We might 
have known, Jimmie.” 

“We might have smelled them, anyway,” said 
Jimmie with a grin, “if Spice hadn’t been in such 
a hurry.” 

Then both Jimmie and Betty became sober. 

“Why did you call the onions a strong friend?” 
Jimmie asked. “I think you're a strong friend.” 

“Thank you,” Hiram answered. “I was a useful, 
strong friend to you once; but you’ll find the onions 
a useful, strong friend to you always. Why, Grand¬ 
ma says onions are better than sulphur and mo¬ 
lasses in the spring. Doctor says they’re full of 
healthful mineral salts. Our teacher says they’re 
valuable to keep away sickness, and—” 

Hiram stopped for breath, and Betty said, “We 
believe you, Hiram. Don’t we, Jimmie?” 

“Indeed, we do,” agreed Jimmie. 


THE SURPRISING SOUP 


Jimmie had taken his little sister Betty on her 
first hike. During the last quarter of a mile, he 
could hardly drag her along. 

“I told you not to come,” he scolded. “I knew 
all the time you’d get tired and hang back.” 

“It isn’t that I’m so tired,” the little girl insisted, 
“but I’m so hungry. If only I had something to 
eat, I know I could walk miles.” 

“You can’t expect to carry a lot of food on a long 
hike,” Jimmie retorted, but not so sternly as he 
might have spoken. Jimmie was hungry, too, if 
the truth were known. 

All of a sudden Betty began to dance and laugh 
so that the leaves at her feet flew about merrily. 

“Well, what has happened to you?” cried her 
brother in surprise. “A minute ago you could hard¬ 
ly walk. Now you are dancing.” 

“Oh, I see a house! Look, Brother! Right ahead, 
there, in that grove of cedars! Perhaps we can get 
a lunch there.” 


69 


70 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


Sure enough, a short way ahead there stood a 
homelike little cottage, so brown and old with age 
that one almost missed seeing it. It looked like 
Mother Earth on which it stood. But it looked, oh, 
so pleasant! 

“I hope whoever lives there will have something 
to eat,” Jimmie cried, hurrying on ahead. “Come 
along, Betty. It is a home, not a restaurant. Still, 
as it is so far from town, we will ask them for a 
lunch.” 

Betty’s dancing feet soon caught up with her 
brother’s, and together the children rapped on the 
door of the little brown cottage. 

An old man opened the door, and in answer to 
Jimmie’s request replied that they were to come 
right in and make themselves at home. 

“I hope we aren’t going to be too much trouble,” 
Betty apologized, and added, “we thought we 
would ask if we could have something to eat. We 
have come a long way.” 

The old man smiled. 

“I always make a big boiling of soup. That’s 
what I have to-day. I hope you like soup.” 


THE SURPRISING SOUP 


71 



“Soup!” repeated Jimmie. “Oh, yes, we like soup. 
We often have it to start our dinner with at home.” 

“Well!” laughed the old man, “this soup will have 
to start and finish your dinner, I’m afraid. Though 
there may be a few wild crab apples for dessert.” 

“I know I’ll like your dinner,” Betty said, so 
hungry she could hardly wait for the old man to 
take the iron kettle off the hook above the open 
fire. 

The old man set the kettle on the wooden table, 
and with a big ladle, dished the soup out into 
bowls. There was a meaty, rich flavor rising from 
the steam and Betty saw that her bowl was thick 







72 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


and full of lumps of vegetables. The children said 
grace with true thankfulness, and ate with so 
much relish that the old man laughed heartily. 

“I never knew soup could be so good,” said Jim¬ 
mie. 

“Nor I,” agreed Betty. 

“That’s because you’re hungry,” said the old 
man. “Soup’s good for hungry people. You don’t 
eat too much. And it rests you, too.” 

“I feel better already,” Betty admitted. 

“A heavy meal wouldn’t be half so good for you,” 
the old man explained, “because it would take too 
much energy to digest it. You need all your 
strength to keep your legs going.” 

“I didn’t think I was going to have enough,” 
Jimmie said and laughed. “But I feel just right.” 

“So do I,” said Betty, “and we are ever so much 
obliged.” 

Jimmie thanked his host, too, and set off with 
his sister down the trail. He no longer complained 
that she could not keep up with him. She seemed 
as fresh and happy as when they had started off 
in the morning. 


THE SURPRISING SOUP 


73 


When they finally reached their own gate, their 
mother came out to meet them. 

“Why, children,” she cried happily, “you don’t 
look tired at all! I thought you would be drooping 
like poor little wilted flowers!” 

Then Jimmie and Betty told their mother about 
the surprising soup. 

“That’s not surprising to me,” she said. “Soup 
has so many good things in it—the meat juices 
and the vegetable juices—and I imagine the old 
man had garden herbs, too. Soup is so satisfying, 
it seems to act like magic when we are tired or 
hungry.” 

“Well, it was surprising to me,” Jimmie said. 

“To me, too,” agreed Betty. . . . “But, come to 
think of it, it isn’t so surprising. Why, soup con¬ 
tains proteins from the meat juices and starches 
and mineral salts from the vegetables and—” 

“And water from the spring,” Jimmie added. 
“It’s a food and a drink, too.” 


74 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Good Work That Soup Did 

Why did Jimmie scold Betty when she lagged 
behind? How did he himself feel? 

Describe the little cottage as you imagine it 
looked. 

Act out the scene in the cottage. There will be 
just the old man and Jimmie and Betty. Begin 
with the old man’s telling the children to come 
right in. Close the scene with their thanking him 
for his kindness. 

All you will need for this scene is a big soup 
kettle, three bowls and three spoons. Could you 
use water for soup? Could you make believe it 
tasted so good that the children looking on would 
really imagine that you were eating good vege¬ 
table and meat soup? 

How did the children’s mother explain the sur¬ 
prisingly good work the soup did? 

Can you remember the different kinds of foods 
that went into the making of the soup? What be¬ 
sides meat and vegetables? 

How many different kinds of soups do you know? 


LITTLE BUTTER BALL 


Jimmie and Betty had often heard of Little But¬ 
ter Ball, who lived on a farm and had a reputa¬ 
tion for being both lively and friendly. Every child 
liked to play with Butter Ball, for he never quar¬ 
reled nor acted selfish. You could spend a whole 
day with him and be perfectly happy. 

When Jimmie and his little sister Betty received 
an invitation to visit Butter Ball, they were de¬ 
lighted. It was always a pleasure to visit on a 
farm, but every one said that the farm where 
Butter Ball lived was the very finest in the land. 

Jimmie and Betty walked out to the farm for 
their visit to Butter Ball. They had no trouble 
finding the way, for gentle cows chewed their 
cuds in all the green pastures along the road. And 
the big yellow house and red barns could be seen 
at a great distance. 

When the two children entered the gate that led 
up to the house, Butter Ball came to meet them. 
He was fat and round, with yellow curls, and he 
75 


76 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



BUTTER BALL TURNED A FEW HANDSPRINGS 


fairly danced as he tumbled down the steps to¬ 
ward them. 

“Oh,- here you are!” he cried gleefully. “I hope 
you’re not tired. But if you are, I’ll see that you’re 
rested up.” 

“Are you always as lively as that?” asked Jimmie. 

“Of course!” laughed Butter Ball and he turned 
a few handsprings to show how easily they could 
be done. 

















LITTLE BUTTER BALL 


77 


“Are you always happy, too?” Betty asked. 

“Oh, yes,” replied Butter Ball, his eyes shining 
and his mouth turning up at the corners. 

“What makes you so lively and so happy?” the 
children insisted. 

“I’ll tell you,” answered the joyous boy. “It’s no 
secret.” 

Butter Ball led Jimmie and Betty into the big, 
pleasant house where yellow canaries flew in and 
out of the windows and butterflies hovered over the 
flowers. Out in the kitchen were the churns and 
the big pats of golden butter that the dairymaids 
and men were working into shape. 

“That’s the secret!” Butter Ball said and 
laughed. 

“What’s the secret?” asked Jimmie. 

“Yes, what’s the secret?” Betty repeated. 

“Why, butter’s the secret,” cried Butter Ball and 
danced up and down. 

Suddenly he stopped and regarded his guests 
sadly. 

“You don’t believe it!” he said. 

“I didn’t say we didn’t,” answered Jimmie, and 


78 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


Betty quickly nodded agreement with her brother. 

“Well, if I have to prove it to you,” sighed Butter 
Ball, “I suppose I’ll have to. We won’t have so 
much time to play, though.” 

He led Jimmie and Betty into a large, light room 
where the oldest and wisest butter-maker was test¬ 
ing each of the big pats of butter. 

“Mister Butter-Maker,” said little Butter Ball 
politely, “Jimmie and Betty can’t see why butter 
should make me so lively and healthy. Won’t you 
tell them?” 

“Certainly I will,” and the butter-maker’s voice 
was very smooth, “if they will try to understand.” 

“We’ll try!” promised Jimmie and Betty. 

“Butter,” spoke the old man, “contains some 
strange elements that make things go. They make 
what you call energy. Some people call it ‘pep.’ I 
have heard persons say, ‘That’s what makes the 
wheels go round!’” 

“What are the strange elements?” Jimmie 
asked. 

“They are called vitamins,” said the old man, 
but added, “you don’t have to remember the big 


LITTLE BUTTER BALL 79 


iwi 

L&felN'ibI 

Hpyl 

^ ( 

mm/ BhI 

t\\ 1 


“BUTTER CONTAINS SOME STRANGE elements” 


word. Just remember that there are things in 
butter that make you lively.” 

“Oh, we know about vitamins,” Betty boasted 
and Jimmie added, “Yes, we have learned about 
vitamins in foods.” 

The butter-maker laughed and slapped Jimmie 
on the shoulder so hard that the little boy almost 
fell over. 

“Ho! ho!” cried the butter-maker. “You’re bright 
children. So you know all about vitamins!” 

“We know,” said Betty, “that they are substances 
found in fresh foods. They keep us young and 
make us grow.” 
















80 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Good!” cried the butter-maker, and motioned 
the children to come closer. “And I’ll tell you some¬ 
thing queer. Butter contains a certain kind of 
vitamin that is found scarcely anywhere else.” 

“I’m glad to know that,” smiled Betty. 

“We’re for the butter!” yelled Jimmie. 

“We’ll have a lunch later on,” promised Butter 
Ball, “but let’s go and play first.” 

At noon the butter-maker called the children 
to him. He had set out their lunch on a tray 
under an apple tree. Jimmie and Betty were not 
surprised to find their bread spread thick with 
yellow butter. 

“It tastes almost like sweet, thick cream,” said 
Betty. 

“It’s made of cream,” Butter Ball explained. 

“This is the easiest work I ever did to make me 
grow,” Jimmie declared, as he bit into his second 
slice. 

“It’s one of the surest ways to make yourself 
grow,” Butter Ball offered, smiling at his guests. 
“Nothing takes the place of butter.” 


THE CIRCUS DRINKS 


Jimmie gave a circus every year in the old barn 
that stood under the elm trees. Perhaps his father 
might have torn down the old building, except for 
the fact that he remembered his own boyhood days 
and wanted his little son to have as good a time as 
he had had. The latest circus was to be the best 
of all. 

Jimmie rigged up a trapeze out of some clothes¬ 
line and the handle of an old broom, and made 
a really natural “lion” out of the collie by clip¬ 
ping him close, all except his ruff. The other little 
boys in the neighborhood brought their pet dogs 
and cats and made crates into cages for the ani¬ 
mal show. 

There was only one drawback to giving the cir¬ 
cus. Jimmie’s little sister Betty wanted to take 
part. The little boys had given her every chance. 
She had hung by her knees on the trapeze, only to 
fall when they swung her. And she had been given 
a chance to train the “lion.” But the collie had 
81 


82 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


only jumped about and licked her face. Jimmie 
was his trainer, and the dog refused to mind any¬ 
one else. The boys had even given Betty a chance 
to be the “wild man/’ but she was forced to admit 
that she looked too little and that she couldn’t 
make as fierce faces as the new boy who had just 
moved into the block. 

“Now, are you satisfied?” cried Jimmie finally. 

“Yes,” she answered, almost in tears. “But I did 
want to take part. I won’t bother you any more.” 

“That’s a good girl,” said Jimmie, with relief. 
He went on nailing a crate of “wild cats” onto a 
coaster wagon for the parade. 

Betty’s eyes were so full of tears that she almost 
stumbled against the family doctor as he came up 
the walk. 

“Well! Well!” he cried, “I was just dropping in 
to see how Grandmother was feeling these days; I 
didn’t expect a real patient.” 

The doctor’s voice was comforting; so Betty told 
him her story. 

“Know what a prescription is, Betty?” he asked 
in his most sober voice. 


THE CIRCUS DRINKS 


83 


“It’s something to cure you when you are sick,” 
answered the little girl, wiping away her tears. 

“Right the first time,” the doctor said and then 
laughed heartily. 

“You’re thinking something nice,” Betty guessed 
and laughed, too. 

“I’m going to give you a prescription for the cir¬ 
cus,” announced the doctor, as he took out his little 
pad. Then he wrote something on a leaf of his 
notebook and handed it to Betty. 

“Have this filled in the kitchen,” he ordered. 

Betty took the piece of paper and stared at it. 
All it said was, “Pink lemonade. Citric acids in 
cases of thirst, fatigue and overheating.” 

The doctor left Betty standing in the middle of 
the walk. She was somewhat perplexed. Then, all 
of a sudden, her face beamed with happiness. Here 
was something she might do. She could take part 
in Jimmie’s circus without displeasing any of the 
little boys. She would sell lemonade. The paraders 
would be thirsty, tired and very warm. Yes, the 
prescription was just right. Fruit juices were full 
of vitamins, they were cooling and refreshing. 


84 HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 

She could make the lemonade pink with the 
left-over juice from the cherry sauce, and perhaps 
Grandma would let her have that pomegranate on 
the buffet. Pomegranates have such lovely red 
juice. 

Citrous fruits? Why, there were lemons and 
oranges and grapefruits in the pantry and tanger¬ 
ines on the table. She must ask Mother for some 
of each. Mother had often said that such fruits 
were very valuable since they contained natural 
sugars, mineral salts and refreshing juices. 

Jimmie was relieved that his sister did not bother 
him on the morning of the circus. There was 
enough to do at the last minute, for some of the 
cats resented being put into the same cages with 
other cats. “Wild cats” was a correct sign. Billy’s 
mother hesitated a long time before she lent two 
of her hens, and the stripes on the zebra, the new 
boy’s airedale, ran together. Altogether Jimmie had 
a great deal to keep him busy. 

When the boys, followed by their friends, came 
back to the circus barn, they found Betty under 
a wide umbrella, standing behind a table on which 


THE CIRCUS DRINKS 


85 



BETTY SOLD PINK LEMONADE 


glasses of pink lemonade were arranged. There 
was a frosty coolness about those glasses that was 
very tempting. Every single boy and girl knew 
that the lemon juice would satisfy thirst. It would 
make his stomach feel good, too. And best of all, 
the cool drink would cool his whole body. 

“One cent a glass,” the sign said. 

That was the price of the circus. Jimmie and 
the neighborhood boys had planned to buy a base¬ 
ball outfit with the proceeds from the circus. 



































86 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


Now, most of the little boys who came had only 
one penny. They wanted to see the circus. They 
wanted the lemonade, too. They hesitated. They 
really needed a drink. 

Finally one tired, thirsty little boy stepped up. 

“I want a glass of lemonade,” he said. “Saw the 
parade. That's enough circus for me.” 

It wasn't long before the others joined the first 
little boy, and the crowd that had formed to wait 
for the barn door to swing open gathered about 
Betty’s lemonade stand. 

When Jimmie swung the doors open with a 
grand gesture, his sharp eyes saw at once how mat¬ 
ters stood. So did Betty. She had played a part 
and was willing to be generous. 

“The lemonade money belongs to the circus,” she 
said. 

“Sure,” grinned Jimmie, and added generously, 
“everybody that bought lemonade can see the cir¬ 
cus, too. After having good, cooling drinks, every¬ 
body will feel like enjoying it.” 


THE SMALL TIGER 

“Eat your baked potatoes and spinach, Jimmie,” 
said Father. 

“And you yours, Betty,” Mother added. 

“I want some more meat,” said Jimmie sulkily. 

“I want some more meat, too,” nodded Betty. 

“Eat what’s on your plates,” Father commanded. 

“Then you can have some nice gelatine for des¬ 
sert,” Mother promised. 

This conversation happened so often that no one 
thought much about it. Jimmie and Betty often 
asked for more meat and were always refused. 
But they had been studying about diet in school; 
so, at this particular meal, Jimmie sat forward on 
his chair and faced his father and mother with a 
great show of importance. 

“I’ve got to have protein, haven’t I?” he asked. 

“The teacher,” chimed in Betty, “says we should 
have just so much protein a day to keep well.” 

Father and Mother both smiled, and Mother said, 
“Protein, I believe, is found in a great many foods 
87 


88 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


besides meats, in eggs and in cottage cheese, in 
beans and even in milk. Not that meat isn’t a 
good food! It is! It’s so nourishing, in fact, that 
a little goes a long way.” 

“Betty and Jimmie,” Father said, “remind me 
of a small tiger the explorer brought home. He 
wants all his protein in the form of raw meat. It 
makes both children and animals disagreeable if 
they have too much heavy food to digest. I 
wouldn’t answer for that tiger’s disposition.” 

“O Betty!” Jimmie cried suddenly, “let us go over 
after we finish our dessert and see the little tiger.” 

“I’d like to go,” Betty cried, her eyes sparkling. 
“May we go, Mother?” 

“Why, yes,” Mother agreed, “but be careful.” 

“Tiger eat tiger!” laughed Father. 

As soon as they were excused from the table, 
Jimmie and Betty ran, hand in hand, up to the 
end of the street, where the explorer lived. The 
house and yard were big; in the rear was a barn¬ 
like building where the explorer kept the tiger. 

The children walked in through a small door. 
They found themselves in a tiny enclosure, on the 


THESMALLTIGER 89 

floor of which was thick straw into which their 
feet sank. In the dim light they saw that a ladder 
led up to the loft above. 

“Let us climb the ladder!” cried Jimmie. 

“All right!” agreed his little sister. “I can climb 
almost as well as a boy, can’t I?” 

“Oh, almost,” agreed Jimmie. 

Jimmie started up the ladder, with Betty behind 
him, when they heard a low growl. Down in the 
corner were two shining eyes in what appeared to 
be a ball of fur. 

The children scrambled up the ladder as fast as 
they could go. Betty caught her breath in a sob; 
but Jimmie only breathed hard. 

“Don’t cry!” he called. “Such a small tiger 
wouldn’t hurt anybody.” 

The furry ball rose and stretched, and his shin¬ 
ing eyes looked more than ever like balls of fire. 
Then he growled again. “Gr-r-r-r!” It was a 
throaty sound. “Gr-r-r-r!” It made the children 
shiver! “Gr-r-r-r!” 

“Come on down!” growled the little tiger. His 
sharp, white teeth were snapping at the ladder. 


90 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



“WE HAVE TO EAT THINGS WE DON’T LIKE, TOO” 


“Wh-wh-wh-what do you w-w-want?” asked Jim¬ 
mie, as bravely as he could. 

‘‘I want my protein,” snapped the small tiger. 
“I’d like a nip of your little sister and yourself.” 

“R-r-r-raw meat isn’t g-g-g-good for you,” gulped 
Betty, as bravely as she could. “A 1-1-little goes a 
long way.” 

“I’ve heard you yell for meat myself,” said the 
small tiger, “when the explorer was leading me 
past your house for exercise.” 

“You’ll never hear it again,” promised Jimmie. 

“Never again!” agreed Betty. “You see, we’ve 
learned a good deal just lately. You can get pro¬ 
tein in other foods besides meat.” 



THE SMALL TIGER 


91 


“Can you?” asked the small tiger, mildly inter¬ 
ested. “Where?” 

“In eggs and cheese and beans and corn meal 
and milk and—” 

‘That’s enough!” snarled the little tiger. “I don’t 
like such things. Only this morning the explorer 
brought me vegetables and oatmeal. He says 
they’re good for me. So I just have to eat them.” 

“We have to eat things we don’t like, too,” said 
Jimmie, “just because they’re good for us.” 

“Oh, yes!” added Betty. “Every day we hear, 
‘Eat your spinach. It’s good for you!’ and ‘Eat your 
whole-wheat bread and butter. It’s good for you.’ ” 

There was a tear in the small tiger’s eye. 

“Come on down and play,” he begged. “I feel too 
sorry for you to want to nip you. Think of having 
to get our proteins without getting all the meat 
we’d like, just because it’s good for us!” 

And the mild, vegetable-fed tiger allowed Jimmie 
and Betty to stroke his fuzzy back. 


92 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


A Funny Little Play 

Are you like Jimmie and Betty? Do you ask for 
more meat and still more meat? Why doesn't your 
father serve you all you want? You know meat is 
a good food or it wouldn’t be on your table. Then 
why are Father and Mother so careful to let you 
have only a small portion? 

Would you like to make the boys and girls laugh 
about this question of meat eating? Suppose you 
act out the story of the vegetable-fed tiger. You 
will need a ladder and a hay loft. What could you 
use in school? A table for the loft? Some grass 
for the hay? A small chair ladder for the big lad¬ 
der? I’m sure you’ll manage somehow. 

Let some one play the tiger. Have you a little 
boy who would like to walk on all fours? Could he 
growl like a little tiger? Maybe he could even 
wear a fur coat. 

Begin with the little tiger at the foot of the 
ladder growling and saying, '‘Come on down!” 

End the play with Jimmie and Betty petting the 
mild, vegetable-fed tiger. 


ROUGH STUFF 


Jimmie and his little sister Betty were coming 
home from a lovely party where they had played 
games and romped and eaten. In fact, they did 
not like to think how much they had eaten! White 
bread sandwiches with rich fillings of preserves! 
And cups of chocolate, with whipped cream! And 
ice cream with frosted cakes and salted nuts and 
candies! They were both bent double with a ter¬ 
rible stomach ache. They had felt so well right 
after breakfast, but they were so unhappy now. 

“We had a good time, anyway!” insisted little 
Betty, holding her two soft little hands hard 
against her stomach. 

“Yes, we did!” groaned Jimmie; and Betty was 
too miserable to care whether he meant it or not. 

The children had come as far as the pasture 
where the family cow was chewing her cud. Slowly 
and continuously her jaws moved from side to side. 
The gentle crunching sound was not unpleasant, 
but Jimmie glared at her. 

93 


94 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“If I ate all day like you do, I’d be sicker than 
I am,” he challenged the cow. 

Mooley kept right on chewing. 

“Chew, chew, chew!” called Betty crossly. “If I 
chewed like that, my jaws would be tired.” 

“Such coarse stuff to eat!” sighed Jimmie a bit 
enviously. He was wishing he had eaten corn 
bread or oatmeal himself. Then he wouldn’t have 
felt so uncomfortable. 

“I like refined food,” said Betty proudly, trying 
to forget her stomach ache. 

That was too much for Mooley the cow. 

“Too refined!” she remarked, never missing a 
chew. 

Betty, who had been taught never to speak with 
her mouth full, regarded the cow reproachfully. 

“You mean our manners are too refined?” she 
asked. 

“Not your manners!” corrected the cow. “Your 
food.” 

“I think you’re right,” put in Jimmie. “From the 
way I feel, I know you’re right.” 

“The man who feeds me,” continued Mooley, 


ROUGH STUFF 


95 



“i ALWAYS FEEL WELL,” SAID THE COW 


“could give me enough food to last all day in one 
of his hands. But I would soon get very sick and 
die. It takes me all day to eat my meals. And I 
always feel well.” 

“I envy you,” sighed Jimmie; and Betty added, 
“So do I.” 

“It's the roughage that keeps me all right in¬ 
side,added Mooley, chewing slowly. 

“The roughage?” Both children spoke at once. 












96 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Yes, the roughage,” Mooley explained. “The 
rough stuff does the work. That’s the kind of food 
you say is not nourishing—food like bran.” 

“We eat bran in muffins,” Betty defended. 

“Better keep it up,” said the cow. “You ate bran 
in muffins one day, but you filled up on ice cream 
and candy to-day. Or I miss my guess!” 

“You’re right,” Jimmie said. “But I don’t like 
bran; I don’t care much for oats, either, or spin¬ 
ach.” 

“I suppose you like to sit all hunched up like 
that,” observed the cow. 

Jimmie did not answer. 

“Don’t your jaws get tired?” asked Betty, trying 
to change the subject. 

“They do not,” snapped Mooley. “And, if you 
worked your jaws more, you’d have better teeth.” 

“I’ll do anything to keep from having my teeth 
filled,” Jimmie promised. 

“Well, then, use them,” Mooley advised. “Teeth 
get better with use. Chew and chew and chew. 
The chewing polishes your teeth and exercises the 
gums. Don’t swallow things whole.” 


ROUGH STUFF 


97 


“Grandma has to do that,” Betty said. “She just 
eats soup and mush.” 

“Most of the stuff you eat is mush, too,” Mooley 
remarked. 

“I think you’re right,” put in Jimmie. “From 
the way I feel I know you’re right. I feel as if I 
were full of mush.” 

“So do I!” agreed Betty. 

The children thanked the cow for her good ad¬ 
vice, and left her quietly chewing her cud. 

“Remember!” said Betty, “Mooley said, ‘Rough 
stuff!”’ 

“ ‘Rough stuff’ is my motto from now on,” said 
Jimmie earnestly. 

The cook met the children at the door. But be¬ 
fore she could speak, Jimmie said, “Could we have 
just a baked apple and a bran muffin for supper?” 

“Of course you can,” smiled the cook. “I suppose 
you overate at the party. To-morrow you’ll want 
everything again.” 

But Betty and Jimmie vowed they would not. 


98 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Rough Stuff” Is Our Motto 

Show how Jimmie and Betty walked on their 
way home from the party. What had they had to 
eat? 

Do you want to have some fun? Get a picture 
of a cow and let some one stand behind the pic¬ 
ture. If the picture is too small to conceal the 
speaker, tack the picture to a screen and let the 
speaker stand behind the screen. Perhaps your 
milkman will give you a big picture of a cow, one 
he has used for advertising. 

If you can’t get a picture, draw one on the black¬ 
board. 

Jimmie and Betty come along, bent double with 
stomach ache. They stop to look at the cow. Jim¬ 
mie begins with the sentence in the book, “If I ate 
all day like you do, I’d be sicker than I am.” 

Act each part out, using the words of the story. 
The part of Mooley is taken by the person con¬ 
cealed behind the picture or the screen. 

End the scene when Jimmie says, “ ‘Rough stuff’ 
is my motto from now on.” 


THE STOMACH BRUSH 


Betty, sitting in the hammock on the back porch 
reading, heard the clatter of Jimmie’s shoes as he 
ran down the back steps of the new house next 
door. Jimmie surely was excited. Betty jumped to 
her feet and ran to meet him. 

“What has happened?” she cried. 

Jimmie’s eyes were brighter blue than the sky 
and his cheeks redder than the new “Jack” rose 
in the garden. 

“Monsieur is home!” Jimmie exclaimed. 

“Not Monsieur, the artist!” Betty’s eyes were as 
bright as Jimmie’s, her cheeks as red. 

Madame, the new neighbor, had told the chil¬ 
dren, in broken English, that her husband was 
an artist. When he returned home, they must 
come to dinner. 

“Has Monsieur many pictures with him?” Betty 
inquired, while Jimmie paused to get his breath. 

Betty liked pictures, especially Raphael’s Ma¬ 
donna pictures and Boughton’s Pilgrim pictures. 

99 


100 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“He is not that kind of an artist,” Jimmie de¬ 
clared, proud of his knowledge. “He is a chef\” 

“A chef?” Betty caught her breath. 

“A chef!” Jimmie said it plainly and repeated it 
just as plainly. “A chef!” 

“But Madame said he was an artist,” Betty 
began. 

“He is an artist,” Jimmie said, staunchly. “Ma¬ 
dame says that anybody that does anything better 
than anybody else is an artist.” 

Just then Monsieur, in a stiffly starched white 
suit and a stiffly starched white cap, appeared on 
the back porch next door. His eyes were shining 
black, and his little black mustache made his big, 
white teeth look whiter still. What a smile! 

“Come, my little friends,” he invited. “Madame 
tells me you have been waiting for me. Come! I 
shall give you a sample of my cooking.” 

He did not have to repeat his invitation. Betty 
ran as fast as Jimmie across the lawn and up the 
steps. 

“I am so glad you are a cook artist instead of 
a picture artist,” Betty said shyly. 


THE STOMACH BRUSH 


101 



“WE ALL NEED THE STOMACH BRUSH” 


“Or even a musical artist,” Jimmie agreed. 

Monsieur laughed. 

“You shall watch!” he said, as he stood before 
his white table. “At one end the little girl shall 
sit. At the other end the little boy shall sit. 
Now!” 

Jimmie sat down on one of the clean red and 
white chairs, Betty on the other. Monsieur raised 
his knife. 


















102 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“First,” he said, “there is the stomach brush!” 

Betty looked across at Jimmie, startled. 

“I don’t need a stomach brush,” Jimmie spoke 
up quickly. 

“I don’t want a stomach brush!” Betty gasped. 

The cook looked stern. 

“You need—we all need—the stomach brush,” he 
insisted. “You must have the stomach brush.” 

Betty looked wildly at Jimmie. 

“I think I’ll go home, if you don’t mind,” she 
began; but the cook pushed her back gently into 
her chair. 

“You must not go until you have dined,” he said 
politely and made her a bow. 

“First,” said the cook again, “as I was saying, 
the stomach brush!” 

Betty started to rise again. 

“Aw, sit down,” Jimmie said. “I’m sure if poor 
Aunt Carrie could have her stomach pumped out, 
we can stand it to have ours brushed out!” 

Betty gulped and settled back in her chair. If 
Jimmie could be brave, she could, too. 

“What is that?” cried the cook sharply. 


THE STOMACH BRUSH 103 

“Stomachs pumped out? Stomachs brushed out?” 

Then he laughed and laughed. 

“You do not understand, I see,” he said, when 
he could speak again. “See, this is the stomach 
brush!” 

Monsieur held up a little bunch of curly leaves 
and began to cut them with his knife. 

“That’s parsley!” Betty cried, wide-eyed. 

“That’s parsley!” Jimmie repeated. “Why do you 
call it a stomach brush?” 

“Because,” said the cook who was also an artist, 
“it cleans one’s stomach so well. Eat this—the 
stomach brush—and you will never need the 
stomach pump. Look! I sprinkle the good parsley 
on little rounds of bread to be eaten at the begin¬ 
ning of the meal. I put some in the soup. Also I 
place it in little bouquets around the meat. It is 
not just a decoration. It is to be eaten.” 

And he hastened to make ready the good dinner 
which proved him, as both Betty and Jimmie after¬ 
wards said, “a real artist.” 


104 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Cook Artist 

What does '‘monsieur” mean? (It is French for 
mister. But you won’t find pronouncing it quite 
so simple.) Look it up and learn to pronounce it 
correctly. 

What is a chef? 

How can a cook be an artist? 

If you would like to play the part of Monsieur, 
put on a clean white cap and apron and get your¬ 
self a little black mustache. You might make one 
out of black paper or draw it above your upper 
lip with a charred match. 

For this scene you will need a table, two chairs, 
some parsley and a knife. A few dishes would make 
the table look as if it were set for a meal. 

We have Jimmie and Betty as two of the char¬ 
acters. You, as Monsieur, are the third. Begin the 
action of the story with the three characters ready 
as in the picture. Betty says, “I am so glad that 
you are a cook artist instead of a picture artist.” 

End the scene with the chefs explanation of the 
“stomach brush.” 


JUST DESSERTS 


“There’s a new little inn by the side of the road,” 
Jimmie announced as he ran into the house. 

He had just come home from a hike through the 
autumn woods. 

“A new inn!” Betty was interested. “What does 
it look like?” 

“It’s a little brown house; and it looks so home¬ 
like, with the red and gold maple trees around 
it,” Jimmie said. 

Then he smacked his lips and looked away off 
toward the long country road and the blue sky. 

“You’re thinking of something pleasant,” Betty 
guessed. 

Jimmie’s whole face smiled. 

“I certainly am.” Then he brightened. “Betty, 
what do you think? In the window of the inn 
there’s a sign.” 

“Yes, yes,” prompted Betty. 

“The sign says, ‘Just Desserts ’!” Jimmie cried. 

“‘Just desserts’! O Jimmie, how lovely!” Betty- 
105 


106 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


exclaimed. “When Uncle comes again, let’s ask 
him to take us there instead of to the hotel.” 

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Jimmie ad¬ 
mitted. 

Luckily, just at that moment, Uncle appeared at 
the gate. 

“Hello, there!” he called. “Well, both Betty and 
Jimmie home at once! This is fine! Want to go to 
lunch with me?” 

“Oh, yes, thank you,” they answered, with one 
voice. 

“Where shall we go?” Uncle asked. “Anywhere 
you say!” 

“We’d like to go to the inn by the side of the 
road,” Jimmie said. 

Betty added, “If you please, Uncle.” 

“All right,” Uncle agreed. “Let’s get Mother’s 
permission, and then we’ll be off.” 

A little later Betty, in a pretty pink gingham 
dress, and Jimmie, in his blue sailor suit, went down 
the road with their uncle. The sight of the little 
brown house ahead brought smiles of delight to 
the faces of the children. Uncle looked pleased, too. 


JUST DESSERTS 


107 


A little old man opened the door into a cheerful 
old room. There were rag rugs on the floor and 
a fire in a cobblestone fireplace. A mother cat and 
her kittens played near the warmth. 

The merriest little old lady in a gray frock and 
a lace-trimmed cap came bustling out from a little 
room behind. 

“Good day!” she cried, welcome in her tone. 
“Good day! What can I do for you to-day?” 

“Lunch for the three of us, if you please,” Uncle 
said as he bowed to the little old lady. 

“We have good stew and spinach,” said the lit¬ 
tle old lady. “Also, there’s whole-wheat bread and 
milk.” 

“Good! Very good!” Uncle declared. 

Then he turned about. Why, Betty looked as if 
she were about to cry. Jimmie was manfully blink¬ 
ing and trying to smile. 

“What’s the matter?” Uncle asked, as soon as 
the merry old lady had hurried out to her little 
kitchen. 

“It says, 'Just Desserts' in the window,” Jimmie 
whispered. 


108 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



THE STEW DID SMELL GOOD 

“That’s what it says —'Just Desserts ' 99 Betty 
added. “I saw the sign myself as we came in.” 

“How’s that?” exclaimed Uncle. “We’ll ask about 
this.” 

The little old man drew a table before the cheer¬ 
ful fire and placed three chairs about it. 

Then the old lady bustled in with a tray. The 
stew did smell good. There was sliced egg on the 
spinach. The bread looked crusty and rich, the 

















JUST DESSERTS 


109 


milk was yellow and sweet. The children were 
almost happy. 

“What does your sign mean —'Just Desserts’?” 
Uncle asked. 

“What it says,” the little old lady answered. “I 
serve only just desserts. Some desserts are hard 
on the stomach. They are the unjust desserts, be¬ 
cause they promise pleasure and give pain. My 
desserts are just. They promise pleasure and give 
pleasure.” 

“What are they?” asked Uncle. 

“Gelatine—because it digests so quickly,” said 
the little old lady. “Or you may have custard, 
tapioca pudding, dates and nuts, or fruit. The 
custards are nourishing, and so is the tapioca. 
The dates are nature’s own sweets. Of course, if 
you’ve had a fairly heavy meal, the fruit would be 
best.” 

“How lovely!” Betty exclaimed. 

“Fine!” Jimmie cried. 

“I believe in signs,” Uncle admitted. “Especially 
in honest signs like yours.” 

Betty chose tapioca pudding with dates in it, 


110 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


and Jimmie decided to have custard with raisins. 
Uncle said he’d take a baked apple. 

“Dessert used to mean pastry to me,” Uncle of¬ 
fered, soberly. “But that was when I worked hard 
in the fields all day and had a stomach like an 
ostrich.” 

“Has an ostrich a queer stomach?” Jimmie 
asked, lifting up a plump raisin on his spoon. 

“Well, not queer for an ostrich,” Uncle answered. 
“But it would be queer if it belonged to you or 
Betty. An ostrich can swallow almost anything 
and still feel well.” 

“We can’t,” Betty spoke up. “Mother says that 
pie, with its rich crust and filling, is not for little 
children. Our digestions aren’t grown up any more 
than we are. As babies we could digest only milk; 
but now we can enjoy puddings like these.” 

“I’d just as soon have desserts like this all my 
life,” said Jimmie. 

“So would I,” Betty agreed. 

“Then you’d surely always have Just Desserts 
said Uncle. 


JUST DESSERTS 


111 


Lunch at the Inn 

What did Jimmie and Betty expect to eat at 
the inn with the sign Just Desserts? 

Describe the inn. Would you expect the food to 
be wholesome? 

For the scene at the inn you would need a table 
and some chairs. If you put a few dishes on the 
table, it will look more as though a meal were 
being eaten. 

There will be five parts: 

Uncle 

Jimmie 

Betty 

The Little Old Man 
The Little Old Lady. 

The girl who plays the part of the Little Old 
Lady should wear a cap. She could explain, just 
as the old lady does in the story, about “just des¬ 
serts” and other kinds. 

Could you name a dozen just desserts? If it 
were your inn, what would you give the boys and 
girls who came there to dine? 


KING WATER 


Jimmie and his little sister Betty often wondered 
who ruled the Green Forest, the Desert Land and 
the Big Hill. From the animals and plants they 
had heard strange whisperings of a great king. 

“He is not only a great king,” the cactus plant 
had whispered one day when the children were tak¬ 
ing a trip through the desert, “but he is also a 
great doctor. He knows just how much water ev¬ 
erything needs.” 

“I wonder how much we need,” asked Betty, and 
the cactus answered, “Visit the king and learn.” 

“Where does he live?” asked Jimmie. 

“Top o’ the world,” said the cactus, proud of 
such wonderful knowledge. 

So Jimmie and Betty decided to visit the king. 
Their journey led, first of all, through a burning 
desert. The children became very thirsty and tired. 

“Oh, for a drink!” they sighed. 

The cactus answered them. 

“The king sent word that I was to hold water 
112 


KING WATER 113 

for you in my thick coat. Cut off a piece as big as 
a bowl and watch the water rise. ,, 

Jimmie cut off a large piece of the cactus, and 
soon he held a bowl of moisture. Betty sipped it 
gladly and so did Jimmie. 

“It was surely kind,” said Betty, “for the king 
to provide for us.” 

“He must expect us,” cried Jimmie joyfully. “Let 
us hurry.” 

Hand in hand the children came out of the des¬ 
ert and began to pick their way through the un¬ 
derbrush in the forest. They stopped to listen to 
the songs of the thrushes and to pick the wild 
strawberries that were so small but so sweet. 

“I’m thirsty again,” said Betty, “and my hands 
are so sticky. I wish I could wash them.” 

“I’m thirsty too,” Jimmie admitted, “but I have 
no idea where a spring could be found.” 

“There must be a little brook somewhere in the 
woods,” said Betty, “for the violets grow so thick 
and dark.” 

“Oh, look!” whispered Jimmie. “There’s a rabbit 
going up that way.” 


114 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


Betty looked in the direction Jimmie had pointed. 
She caught only a glimpse of the gray bunny’s 
white tail, but she also saw a red squirrel fairly 
flying in the same direction. Then suddenly she 
caught her brother by the sleeve. 

“The little forest animals know more than we 
do,” she cried. “They all go in the direction of 
King Water at this time of day.” 

“I believe you’re right,” cried the brother gen¬ 
erously. “We can follow them.” 

The brother and sister stumbled along through 
the lacy-leafed woods into which the late, golden 
sun sifted, often falling over underbrush, but al¬ 
ways going closer and closer to the place where 
they could hear the birds singing. 

Then, to their great surprise, they found they 
had reached the home of King Water. From a 
great distance could be heard the roar of waters, 
but near at hand trickled a fairylike brook, pick¬ 
ing its way daintily among the stones between the 
mossy banks. 

King Water came striding down the hill. His 
beard and hair were like the bluish mists on the 



THE HOME OF KING WATER 













































116 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


mountain tops and his vast cloak like the fogs in 
the valleys. His kindly eyes shone like blue lakes 
and there was a glow on his cheeks like ponds at 
sunset. 

“Ho! ho! ,, he cried. “Welcome, children! Wel¬ 
come! What can I do for you?” 

“Cactus said you were a doctor,” spoke up Jim¬ 
mie, not at all afraid. “We came to find out how 
much water we needed.” 

“Your doctor at home will say at least four 
glasses of water a day and a couple of baths a 
week,” said King Water. 

Jimmie and Betty knew that it was really nec¬ 
essary to take two good, complete baths a week. 
They felt fresher and sweeter after their baths. 
Four glasses of water were not too many to drink. 
Not only did the water satisfy thirst but it helped 
to digest their food. 

Jimmie faced King Water gayly. 

“Go as far as you like!” roared the great king. 
“As much as you like—inside and out!” 

With that he vanished, and his great laugh, like 
a roaring river, sounded in the distance. 


KING WATER 


117 


A Little Question Box 

Why do we call water King? 

Can water be found in the desert? Tell the story 
of the cactus. Do you suppose the water in the 
cactus tasted very good? How would it compare 
with water from a running spring? 

How did Jimmie and Betty discover the direction 
in which they might go to get water? 

Describe King Water. 

Repeat his advice to Jimmie and Betty. 

Remember that about three-fourths of a child’s 
body is water. Even a larger part of a plant is 
water. 

Which could we live longer without—food or 
water? 

Most foods that we eat contain some water. But 
in addition to the water we get in this way we 
need to drink at least how many glassfuls of water 
a day? 

How many baths should children take every 
week? 

Why should we keep our hands clean? 


THE NUTCRACKER BOY 


‘They're always talking about Nature’s sweets ” 
said the nutcracker boy, gazing at the dates and 
figs, the jars of honey, and the little cakes of maple 
sugar in the window of the corner grocery. “Why 
don’t they talk about Nature’s meats?’ 

Jimmie and Betty, standing alongside the nut¬ 
cracker boy, exclaimed in one voice, “Nature’s 
meats!” 

“Yes,” said the nutcracker boy, facing about and 
looking at them, “yes, meats! That’s what I said.” 

Betty held back her laughter, and Jimmie put 
his hand over his mouth to hide his broad grin. 
The children did not want to hurt the feelings of 
the nutcracker boy. In fact, they liked him very 
much. His father raised nuts for the market and 
the nutcracker boy tended the little wayside store 
where the nuts were sold. It seemed as if he al¬ 
ways had a nutcracker in his hands. So many 
people bought their nuts all ready to eat. 

Betty’s and Jimmie’s eyes must have smiled, for 
118 


THE NUTCRACKER BOY 


119 


the nutcracker boy said suddenly, “You don’t be¬ 
lieve me.” 

“It sounds queer to call nuts meat,” Betty said. 

The nutcracker boy did not laugh. 

“Come out to the wayside store and help me 
this afternoon,” he begged. “I’ll give you some 
nuts and you’ll find out what I mean.” 

“I’d like to go,” Betty said. “I could wait on 
customers while you and Jimmie cracked nuts. I 
know how to weigh things, and I’d put the nuts 
carefully into the sacks and boxes.” 

As soon as lunch was over, Jimmie and Betty 
hurried to the little wayside nut shop. It was such 
a neat little place, with its brown walls and green 
tiled roof. 

And the nuts! There were many kinds of nuts 
the children had never seen before. The nut¬ 
cracker boy had just finished painting a new sign. 
He was nailing it up as the children arrived. 

“ ‘Nuts — Nature’s meats. All kinds!’ ” Jimmy 
read. “Lean and fat, I suppose.” 

The nutcracker boy overheard this remark. 

“Yes, lean and fat!” he said. 


120 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Are you joking?” Betty asked, as she tied on the 
apron she had brought with her. 

“Indeed not!” the nutcracker boy answered. “I’ll 
show you. Here, taste this nut.” 

Betty chewed the rich morsel. 

“That’s a butternut,” said the nutcracker boy. 
“Now taste this one.” 

Betty chewed the fine flavored, dry little nut 
that was offered her. 

“That’s a wild hazelnut,” said the nutcracker 
boy. “Notice a difference?” 

“Yes, indeed,” Betty answered. “What makes the 
difference?” 

“The fat or oil,” the nutcracker boy answered, 
“and the flavor in the nut meat itself.” 

“I believe you are right about some nuts being 
richer than others,” Jimmie said. “I’ve noticed the 
oil that rises to the top on Mother’s jar of pea¬ 
nut butter.” 

It was a busy afternoon for the three of them. 
There were many customers. 

“Where are your peanut trees?” asked a little 
boy. 


THE NUTCRACKER BOY 


121 



A SMILING OLD LADY ASKED FOR BLACK WALNUTS 


“Peanuts grow under the ground like potatoes. 
They are not true nuts,” the nutcracker boy an¬ 
swered. “But the hickory nut, walnut, butternut, 
almond, pecan, and Brazil nuts grow on trees.” 

“How about hazelnut trees?” asked the little 
boy. 

“Hazelnuts grow on bushes,” Jimmie observed 
wisely. 

A smiling old lady asked for black walnuts. She 
called them “American walnuts.” 

“I like them better than English walnuts because 
they have a finer flavor and are richer,” said the 
old lady. 

























122 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


When Betty tasted them, she decided the old 
lady was right. 

A young man wanted a big box of mixed nuts. 

“Don’t put in any old chestnuts,” he said and 
winked. 

“Our chestnuts are fresh and good,” Betty said 
soberly. 

The sun was setting before the children realized 
that the afternoon was half over. 

“I never knew so many people liked nuts,” Jim¬ 
mie remarked. “I didn’t think it would pay to 
have a store that sold nothing but nuts.” 

“I know now,” Betty said soberly, “why they call 
them nut meats. I believe nuts are quite as good 
as meat for food.” 

“I told you so,” said the nutcracker boy; but he 
said it very kindly. 


THE NUTCRACKER BOY 123 

A Game About Nuts 

Suppose we make up an interesting game about 
nuts. 

First of all, we shall choose a leader. The leader 
will, in turn, choose ten children and whisper the 
name of a different nut to each one. 

The ten children chosen now take their places 
in front, while the leader passes paper and pencil 
to the other children. 

The first of the ten children describes the nut 
he represents without telling the name. He tells 
where it grows, how it grows, what it looks like 
and how it tastes, as best he can. The children 
listening write down the name of this nut under 1. 

The second child describes the nut he represents. 
The listening children write the name of this nut 
under 2. And so on down the line! 

The children mark the papers as the leader reads 
off the correct names of the nuts. The winner is 
the child who described his nut so perfectly that 
every one guessed it correctly. He is the next 
leader. 


DRINKING STREET 


Jimmie sat down on the comfortable chair by 
the kitchen fire and sulked. Although the teakettle 
hummed and the big Maltese cat rubbed against 
his legs and purred, Jimmie was not happy. The 
reason for the little boy being so cross was that 
his mother would not give him any tea or coffee. 
He had been so satisfied until the new neighbors 
next door had made fun of him. They drank tea 
and coffee. 

Sister Betty felt quite as vexed as Jimmie him¬ 
self. Were they always to be milk drinkers? 

The teakettle hummed more pleasantly than ever 
and the big cat still purred contentedly. It was 
very peaceful indeed—so peaceful that Jimmie 
sailed right out of the old kitchen on a big wave of 
thought. 

He found himself in a queer street, not at all 
like the broad, beautiful avenues that he knew so 
well. The street was narrow and the buildings 
were high. The strange thing about the street 
124 


DRINKING STREET 


125 


was that there were so many signs along the way. 

“Drinking Street,” the signs all read. 

Jimmie felt Betty suddenly beside him. She 
pulled at his sleeve. Then right in front of him 
came a cross little boy. He was short and slim, 
with a face so white it looked almost green. 

“Who are you, please?” asked Jimmie. 

“Oolong,” returned the boy, without smiling. 

“That’s a funny name,” laughed Jimmie. 

“Not any funnier than Jimmie,” snapped Oolong. 
“Think I’d better call my brother. He’ll fix you.” 

“Go on and call him,” dared Jimmie, though he 
felt just a little bit afraid. 

“Mocha!” cried Oolong. “Come on out, Mocha, 
and see who’s here.” 

Mocha appeared in one of the dark doorways. 
He was little, too, and dark and cross. 

“One of the milk drinkers,” Mocha grinned 
sourly; seeing Betty, he added, “two of the milk 
drinkers!” 

Both Oolong and Mocha started toward Jimmie, 
doubling up their fists and looking very fierce, for 
such small people. They fell upon him with all 




















































































DRINKING STREET 


127 


their might and, although he tried to protect him¬ 
self, he would have fared badly if Betty’s cries had 
not brought help. 

Out of a house down the street came running 
a pink-cheeked boy, who knocked Oolong and 
Mocha out of the way. 

"Didn’t know I had a friend on Drinking Street,” 
Jimmie confessed. 

“Oh, I’m Milk White,” laughed the new boy. 
“The tea and coffee drinkers make fun of me, but 
I can lick them, as you see.” 

“Thank you!” said Betty politely. 

“Thank you very much,” said Jimmie politely, 
too. “I’d like to be as strong as you are.” 

“That’s easy,” cried Milk White gleefully. “Just 
drink lots of milk.” 

“But I don’t like it,” Jimmie objected, then add¬ 
ed, “not very well, lately, I mean.” 

“Well, you can’t come with me if you won’t drink 
milk,” Milk White said quietly. “Go on back and 
play with Oolong and Mocha.” 

“We don’t want to!” the visitors replied. “They 
are so cross and mean!” 


128 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



JIMMIE WAKED UP WHEN BETTY TICKLED HIM 


“Well, you’d be cross and mean, too, if you had 
to drink what they do,” Milk White explained. 

Jimmie and Betty walked along beside Milk 
White, stopping to look in the windows and alleys. 
Everywhere the tea drinkers had greenish-white 
faces, and the coffee drinkers were dark and sulky. 

“This is the end of the street,” Milk White said 
suddenly, “right next to your kitchen.” 

Before the surprised Jimmie could reply, Milk 
White had given him a playful shove. He stretched 
himself sleepily. The teakettle hummed, the cat 
purred, and he felt Betty tickle him with a broom- 
straw. He was back in his own home, where, luck¬ 
ily, milk was always served. 






















drinking street 


129 


The Tea and Coffee Drinkers 

The scene on Drinking Street may be acted out 
with a great deal of excitement. Print the name 
Drinking Street on the board, or make a sign 
and tack it to a tree on the playground. 

Our characters are: 

Jimmie 
Betty 
Oolong 
Mocha 
Milk White. 

Oolong would wear something of a yellowish- 
green color, would he not? Why? Mocha could 
wear something brown. Why? Milk White would 
be dressed in what color? I’m sure you’ll have no 
trouble deciding. 

Begin your little play with Jimmie’s reading the 
sign. Then Betty joins him and they meet Oolong. 
Carry the story through just as it is given in the 
book. End it with Milk White saying, “This is the 
end of the street, right next to your kitchen.” 

Do you know the food value of milk? 


THE MAGIC IRON MEN 


Jimmie rumpled his hair, rubbed his eyes and 
began to stretch. Little sister Betty scowled so 
that her blue eyes looked like little shiny slits 
and her nose seemed smaller than ever. 

“Fm tired,” complained Jimmie, sitting down on 
the porch steps. 

“I'm tired, too,” offered Betty. “Let us go see 
the magic iron men. We promised them.” 

Jimmie rose slowly and took his sister’s hand. 
They dragged one foot after the other and paused 
often to wipe away the tears that would come 
when they yawned widely. 

At last, however, they reached the garden where 
the magic iron men were to be found. Of course 
there were other iron men in the world, but none 
that could help Jimmie and Betty so much as the 
little iron men who lived in the garden. 

The two biggest iron men were swaying and 
laughing in the summer breeze when Jimmie and 
Betty appeared. It made the children happy just 
130 


THE MAGIC IRON MEN 


131 


to see so much gayety, for the iron men are al¬ 
ways happy. 

“Hello, Mister Oatmeal!” grinned the little boy. 

“Hello, Lima Bean!” cried Betty, smiling. 

At that Oatmeal and Lima Bean came running, 
with Navy Bean right on their heels. And Spinach 
and Potato joined them. Then good Whole Wheat 
smiled kindly and brought with him Prunes and 
Raisins. 

“Climb over the fence and come right in!” in¬ 
vited Oatmeal, swinging his grayish-green cap low 
before them. 

“They haven’t enough pep,” sneered Lima Bean. 
“They have a lot to learn.” 

“We know we have,” agreed the children. “That’s 
why we came.” 

“Well, come on, then!” 

Mister Oatmeal motioned them and Lima Bean 
gracefully followed, trailing her green chiffon over 
the warm, sweet earth. Spinach spread his great 
bulky sports coat about him and Potato trailed 
along in his snugly fitting, serviceable brown coat. 
Wheat was dainty, like a woman, with a stick-up 


132 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



THEY MANAGED TO GET IN JUST BEFORE THE GREAT 
IRON DOORS CLOSED 

in her hat, and the Prunes and Raisins, though 
wrinkled, moved along in sprightly fashion. 

They were moving toward the foundry, a place 
where iron was tested. Did these foods contain 
iron? 

Jimmie and Betty had a hard time keeping up. 
They managed to get into the foundry just before 
the great iron doors closed behind them. Now 
Jimmie and Betty had often visited the foundry 





























THE MAGIC IRON MEN 133 

with their father, and had seen the red hot iron 
poured into moulds. 

“We will show these children how valuable we 
are,” boasted Oatmeal. “Let the magic begin.” 

Jimmie and Betty stared with wide eyes and held 
tightly to each other’s hands. 

Oatmeal and Lima Bean began to glow, getting 
redder and redder every second, until they looked 
like glowing lamps. Old brown Potatoes turned a 
beautiful pink and so did the usually green Spin¬ 
ach. Even the Raisins and Prunes looked rosy and 
they all danced faster and faster until they seemed 
to run all together like a sunrise. 

“Do you think they really have iron in them?” 
asked Betty. 

“I know it!” retorted Jimmie. “And you should 
know it, too. They turned red in the foundry like 
real iron, just to show us, I suppose, that they 
had iron in them.” 

So they ate some oatmeal and some spinach, and 
later on they had prunes and raisins instead of 
candy. And always they remembered the magic 
iron men. 


THE QUEER VITA-MINS 

The Vita-Mins were a queer food family. In 
some strange way they were necessary both for 
health and growth. Jimmie and Betty had often 
heard that the Vita-Min mother scolded the cook 
because she allowed the miller to remove the brown 
coats from the wheat, the helper to peel the pota¬ 
toes, or the housewife to throw away the water 
that the vegetables had been cooked in. The Vita- 
Min mother said they were destroying the good in 
the food, the part that was life itself. Sailors and 
explorers often came to her sick after long voyages. 
They grew strong and rosy again as soon as they 
were fed fresh fruits and leafy vegetables. 

Jimmie and Betty had often longed to visit the 
home of the Vita-Mins. Finally one day they 
knocked at the door of the pleasant little cottage 
in the forest. Then they trembled, for they imag¬ 
ined that the Vita-Min mother was old and cross 
and disagreeable. Imagine their surprise, when the 
door swung open, to discover a young, beautiful 
134 


THE QUEER VITA-MINS 


135 





“why do you stare at me so hard?” 


ASKED THE VITA-MIN MOTHER 

and lively woman with red cheeks and smiles that 
circled from her mouth so fast that it looked as 
though her whole face were smiling. Jimmie and 
Betty couldn’t help smiling back and they fol¬ 
lowed her into the fragrant, clean house with hap¬ 
py hearts. On the kitchen table were crisp fresh 
greens. 

“Why do you stare at me so hard?” the Vita- 
Min mother asked. 







136 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Because you are so young and so healthy to 
look at,” answered Betty honestly. 

“And because you are so lively,” added Jimmie. 
“We hoped you would tell us about yourself.” 

Jimmie wondered if she would think him bold, 
but she did not. She laughed a merry laugh that 
sounded like bells on Christmas eve. 

“I have no secret,” she said quietly. “I eat my 
food as nature created it. Dame Nature, you know, 
put little brown coats on the wheat, all full of rich 
minerals. And she added something magic to the 
potato skin. The orange and the apple will keep 
you well. And nuts are perfect foods, grown just 
for children like you. But more important still 
are the fresh foods. The fresh leaves of cabbage 
and lettuce are quite as magical as are bread and 
milk.” 

“Will we be like you if we do as you say?” asked 
Betty, wide-eyed. 

“Of course you will,” said the Vita-Min mother, 
nodding. “Vita means life in a very old language. 
If you have plenty of life, you will be lively.” 

Then she danced merrily about, drawing Jimmie 


THE QUEER VITA-MINS 


137 



THERE IS MAGIC IN DAME NATURE’S FOODS 

and Betty into some games. When they were tired 
of playing, the Vita-Min mother’s eyes began to 
sparkle and she asked, “Would you like to see some 
magic?” 

“Indeed we would,” the children cried. 

Their hostess took the brother and the little sis¬ 
ter by the hand and led them into a big, airy room 
with many beds. The place looked like a hospital. 
It was a sort of one, only there were no medicines 
given. 

“This little girl,” said the Vita-Min mother, 
“cried all the time. She had lived far from gardens 
in a desert country. Now she is getting well on 







138 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


tomatoes and other fresh foods. She takes cod 
liver oil, too/' 

“I am better,” smiled the pale little girl. 

“We have been giving her baked potatoes, fresh 
vegetables, whole-wheat bread with butter, and 
milk and fruit,” said the Vita-Min mother. 

“This little boy,” cried the Vita-Min mother, 
pointing to a small child whose cheeks were just 
beginning to be pink, “was pale and tired. He had 
lived mostly on polished rice. I gave him a great 
many oranges and green vegetables and now he’s 
almost well.” 

“That’s the kind of medicine I’d like,” cried 
Jimmie. 

“That’s what I’d like if I were sick,” said Betty, 
and asked shyly, “could we see the magic now?” 

“Yes,” cried Jimmie, “you said you’d show us 
some magic. Where is it?” 

The Vita-Min mother looked perplexed. 

“Why, my dear children,” she said, “that’s just 
what I have been showing you. Isn’t it magic 
when the life in the foods Dame Nature has given 
us cures us of our aches and our pains and our 


THE QUEER VITA-MINS 


139 


tiredness? No one understands vitamins but we 
do know that they have power to build strong, 
fine bodies. Oh, I hope you’re not too greatly 
disappointed.” 

“No,” said Jimmie slowly, “we have had a very 
pleasant time.” 

“I think such magic is the very best sort of 
magic,” Betty declared. “I’m glad I’m where I can 
enjoy seeing it work. Even if we don’t know ex¬ 
actly what vitamins are, we know they keep us 
well and make us grow.” 

“Well,” said Jimmie, “after this I am going to 
eat fresh vegetables and fruits and whole-wheat 
bread with fresh butter. And I am going to drink 
plenty of milk.” 

“So am I,” agreed Betty. “And I am going to 
eat nuts, and baked potatoes with the skins on, 
too.” 

“Cabbage and lettuce,” repeated Jimmie, “and 
greens of all kinds.” 

“And oranges and apples,” added Betty. “She 
said these foods would keep us well.” 


TOO MUCH STEAM 


Jimmie and his little sister Betty were displeased 
because Mother would not allow them to eat 
cheese with their apple pudding. Nor would she 
give them money for an ice cream cone afterwards. 
It wasn’t that they were hungry. Oh, no! They had 
enjoyed a perfectly delicious dinner. The reason 
they wanted the cheese and the ice cream was be¬ 
cause they liked cheese and they liked ice cream. 

“I know our doctor would think it was all right,” 
Betty told her brother. “Mother thinks everything 
he says is correct.” 

“Let’s go and ask him,” Jimmie suggested. 

In the quiet little back street the children soon 
found the old-fashioned house with the big, iron 
knocker. Jimmie lifted the knocker twice and let 
it fall, and Betty lifted it a third time. The knocker 
was so much fun that neither brother nor sister 
cared whether anyone came to the door or not. 

But presently the big oak door swung slowly in, 
and there stood the doctor in his shabby, baggy 
14Q 


TOO MUCH STEAM 


141 


suit. His hair seemed grayer than ever, but his 
smile was just as kindly. 

“Won’t you come in?” he invited, stepping aside 
to let the brother and sister into the narrow hall. 

“If we won’t bother you,” said Betty politely. 

“We came,” Jimmie cried, with eagerness, “to 
find out whether or not you think cheese and ice 
cream good foods.” 

“Certainly, they’re good foods,” replied the good 
doctor. “What made you think they weren’t?” 

“Mother said so,” began Betty. Jimmie hurried 
to add, “She wouldn’t give us cheese with our des¬ 
sert, or ice cream afterwards.” 

“What a cruel mother!” exclaimed the family 
doctor, but there was a twinkle in his eye. “I 
think I begin to see light.” 

“You’ll tell Mother, won’t you,” Betty begged, 
“that cheese and ice cream are good for us?” 

“She thinks everything you say is just right,” 
Jimmie said earnestly. 

“Well—” The doctor hesitated. Then he bright¬ 
ened. 

“Tell you what we’ll do,” he whispered. “We’ll 


142 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 



“YOU ARE TO TEST THE WATER,” SAID THE 
DOCTOR TO BETTY. 


decide for ourselves. Then, if you still believe you 
ought to have cheese and ice cream, I’ll buy them 
for you myself. Come into my workroom.” 

Jimmie and Betty followed at the good man’s 
heels and stood, one at each elbow, while he took 
out an electric stove, a thermometer and some pans 
and measuring-cups. 

“Jimmie,” he instructed, “pour out a little water 
into this dish on the scales.” 

Jimmie did as he was told, greatly interested. 

The doctor set the pan containing the water on 
the stove and put the thermometer into Betty’s 
hands. 













TOO MUCH STEAM 


143 


“You are to test that water, my dear,” he said, 
“and tell us when it begins to get warm.” 

Betty’s cheeks were pink with excitement, and 
Jimmie could hardly keep his hands off the uten¬ 
sils. 

Finally Betty announced that the mercury was 
creeping up in the thermometer. 

“Well, children,” said the doctor, “that’s what 
happens to the food you eat. It changes form.” 

“I know! Jimmie cried. “It becomes heat and 
energy.” 

“But what has that to do with cheese and ice 
cream?” demanded Betty. 

“If you had eaten a good-sized piece of cheese,” 
said the old doctor, “you would have taken on 
maybe more heat and energy than your body could 
easily carry.” 

“Some of the other foods we ate would make 
heat, too,” said Jimmie. 

“Most of them would,” said the doctor. “Do you 
know that all our food except about one sixth, is 
used to make heat?” 

“Oh!” cried Betty. “What does the rest do?” 


144 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“The rest makes you grow and repairs worn out 
parts. It keeps your muscles and organs working.” 

“Would cheese make us as warm as corn meal? ,, 
asked Jimmie. 

The doctor smiled. “I am glad you asked about 
that,” he said. It depends upon the number of 
calories in each kind of food.” 

“Calories?” Jimmie and Betty both looked up at 
the doctor. 

“Calories means heat,” said the doctor. “The 
calorie is the unit of measure of heat. We can 
measure the amount of heat or energy given by 
different foods, in calories, just as we measure 
weight in pounds.” 

“How much heat is a calorie?” asked Jimmie. 

“A calorie is about the amount of heat needed 
to make a half teaspoonful of water one degree 
warmer,” said the doctor. 

“Would ice cream make us warm?” It was Betty 
who asked. 

“The calories in the ice cream would make heat 
in your bodies,” said the doctor. “Cheese has even 
more calories for its bulk.” 


TOO MUCH STEAM 


145 


“I’d like to have that much strength,’’ Jimmie 
grinned, as he doubled up his fists. 

“You couldn’t digest the cheese to get the en¬ 
ergy out of it,” the doctor cried. “Too much steam 
blows things up instead of making them go.” 

“When I get big,” Jimmie boasted, “I’ll eat all 
sorts of things.” 

“If you were a Lumber Jack,” said the doctor, 
smiling, “you could eat beans and pork, because 
you could work off the steam.” 

“Well, that’s what I’m going to be,” laughed 
Jimmie. 

“I’d like to be one, too,” Betty said, smiling. “I 
like bean-hole beans.” 

“Mother had the right idea after all,” Jimmie 
said thoughtfully. “If we had eaten cheese and 
ice cream on top of our dinner, we’d have added 
hundreds of calories to those we already had.” 

“Which would have been several hundred cal¬ 
ories too much,” Betty agreed. “It would have 
been hard to use them.” 

“We’d have had too much steam—just like an 
engine,” Jimmie declared. 


146 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Doctor 

To understand this story, suppose you act out 
the scene at the doctor’s. There are just three 
characters: 

Jimmie 

Betty 

The Doctor. 

You will need a little stove, some scales, a ther¬ 
mometer and a dish. Of course you can make 
believe you have these things, or perhaps some 
little girl could bring her toy stove to school. Ask 
your teacher about the thermometer and also the 
scales. 

Be sure to choose a bright little boy to play the 
part of the doctor, one who can remember about 
the foods that make heat in our bodies. 

Use the words of the story to carry out the 
action. Study the picture in the book. 

Now, why wouldn’t the children’s mother let 
them eat cheese and ice cream after they had had 
their dinner? 

Do you use up calories more quickly when run¬ 
ning or sitting? 


THE VEGETABLE RIVALS 


When Jimmie and Betty won prizes as perfectly 
healthy children, they had no idea of the trouble 
they were going to cause among the vegetable fam¬ 
ily. As soon as the summer breeze had wafted the 
news to the garden, there was a mighty rustling 
and stirring among the friends of the two children. 

Jimmie and Betty came bounding along after 
school, almost falling over the delicate little let¬ 
tuces and bumping against the tall cornstalks who 
slapped at them with their long, strong fingers. 

“You needn’t all fuss so,” scolded Jimmie. “We’re 
going to have a parade and let you march in it. 
Then everybody will understand how much the 
vegetables did to make us win.” 

“We are so happy,” cried Betty, dancing gayly, 
“and we also know that you deserve most of the 
credit.” 

“Who’s going to lead the parade?” asked the corn 
that Jimmie had run into. “I’m certain I am the 
one who should do it. I helped keep you warm all 
147 


148 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


winter, besides giving you the roughage they’re 
always talking about nowadays.” 

“You!” scoffed the potato, his eyes almost sprout¬ 
ing out in his anger. “You! Why should you lead 
the parade when I help out with the dinner every 
day in the year? I give them starch for energy 
and mineral salts for health and, as for roughage, 
every one knows that there is no better rough stuff 
than my coat.” 

The red tomato heard and turned redder in the 
sun. 

“Oh, ho!” cried the tomato. “So that’s it. Just 
because you’re bigger, trying to steal my glory! 
Don’t I provide vitamins? I’m high class now. 
Even the family doctors advise me for babies. I’m 
delicious anyway, even when I’m stewed.” 

“Oh, please don’t quarrel,” begged Jimmie. 

“Who’s quarreling?” cried the spinach as she 
flounced about. “I guess you’d have a hard time 
without me, helping you get rid of the poisons in 
your bodies and giving you iron besides.” 

“Iron!” cried the lima beans, and the trellis fair¬ 
ly shook as they waved their pods. “Who’s talking 


THE VEGETABLE RIVALS 


149 



THE POTATO INSISTS ON LEADING THE PARADE 


about iron? We’re the richest in iron of anybody.” 

“Every single one of you has helped,” Betty cried, 
“but you mustn’t spoil it all by quarreling.” 

“That’s all very well,” cried the celery, pale and 
proud, as she flaunted her greenish-yellow parasol, 
“but I should think credit might fall where it is 
due. What would the holidays be without me? 
And I keep children’s nerves in good condition.” 

The delicate little lettuce interrupted. 

“Nerves!” she cried. “Nerves! When it comes to 
quieting a child, I have the Sandman beaten a 
long way. Besides, I provide mineral salts, too, and 
I’m very refreshing, if I do say it myself.” 






150 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Refreshing!” came a cool voice from the gar¬ 
den. “Refreshing is my first, last and middle name, 
even if you do call me a cucumber. Besides, I’m 
wonderful at house-cleaning, simply wonderful!” 

“I never heard such bragging,” snapped the on¬ 
ion, dabbing herself with her favorite perfume. “I 
help to clean house, too. Besides, I purify the 
blood, and I flavor a lot of other vegetables that 
wouldn’t be nearly so good without me.” 

A fat young cabbage kept his place and only 
smiled. 

“I believe I can solve the problem,” he said slow¬ 
ly. “Most of you sound like patent-medicine doc¬ 
tors, or almanacs.” 

“Well, what would you advise?” asked Jimmie. 

“Oh, please think of something,” begged Betty. 

“I will,” the cabbage promised. “I keep you from 
having to take sulphur in the spring. Why not 
choose me to head the parade?” 

“Why, you’re not any more help than the oth¬ 
ers,” Betty declared. 

Jimmie spoke up sternly, yet he wasn’t really 
angry, either. 


THE VEGETABLE RIVALS 


151 


“We won’t have a parade,” he announced. 

“A good idea, Jimmie,” agreed Betty, much re¬ 
lieved. 

“I’ve come to the conclusion,” said Jimmie, “that 
you’ve all done your shares.” 

“And we couldn’t get along without any of you,” 
Betty added. 

“Well,” said the fat cabbage, “this garden’s good 
enough for me. I never did care much about these 
agricultural parades.” 

For the first time all the vegetables agreed. 

“But, of course,” said the cabbage, “if there 
should be a parade later, I naturally would lead. 
All of you have always called me a cabbage head. 
Then why should I not head the parade?” 

“You are a cabbage head!” scoffed Jimmie. 

“You certainly are/” agreed Betty. 


152 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The Contest 

Now we are to have a contest. Each child who 
enters the contest must choose a different vege¬ 
table. Jimmie and Betty will be judges. 

We shall have a very interesting debate. Do you 
know what a debate is? It is arguing to see which 
or what is best. 

Each vegetable will be given one minute in 
which to tell why it is most important. It would 
be interesting if you could bring to school the 
vegetable you chose. 

The one who gives the best reasons for using 
the vegetable wins the contest and may head the 
parade which will form after the debate. 

Here are some of the vegetables that you may 
choose: 

Corn Spinach Cucumbers 

Potatoes Lima Beans Onions 

Tomatoes Celery Cabbage. 

You may use the reasons given in the book, of 
course. And I feel sure that you will be able to 
add some of your own. 


THE HEALTH CRUSADE 


Jimmie and Betty had obeyed the health rules, 
going to bed early and rising early, taking baths 
and exercise, and eating the right foods. Their 
reward had come when the doctor said they were 
one hundred per cent healthy children. They had 
won prizes in school and in the community drive. 

“Well, what are you going to do about it?” asked 
the doctor, his eyes twinkling. 

“Do about it?” both children asked in amaze¬ 
ment. “Do about what?” 

“About this health business,” said the doctor. 
“You don’t mean to tell me that you’re not going 
to make any use of all you’ve learned. I’d be a fine 
doctor, wouldn’t I, if I just kept myself well? Aren’t 
you going to help any one else?” 

“I’d like to,” faltered Betty doubtfully, “but I 
wouldn’t know how to start.” 

“Most kids eat what they want to, anyway,” said 
Jimmie. “They wouldn’t listen to us telling them 
to eat spinach.” 


153 


154 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


The doctor laughed heartily. 

“Ever hear of the Crusaders?” asked the doctor 
at last, becoming quite solemn. 

“Yes,” both brother and sister nodded. 

“They went for the Holy Grail,” said Betty. 

“Yes,” said Jimmie. “What’s religion got to do 
with health?” 

“A lot,” answered the doctor firmly. “You can’t 
be good-natured and happy when you’re sick. What 
I want to suggest for your neighborhood is a Health 
Crusade.” 

“A Health Crusade?” cried Jimmie and Betty 
together. 

“Yes,” said the Doctor. “Exactly. Form a Health 
Crusade and take a hike every day or so during 
the summer. Any one can belong who obeys the 
rules. The Knights and Ladies could keep their 
ranks only by keeping the rules.” 

“Fine!” cried Jimmie, and Betty clapped her 
hands. 

The two children ran home in the highest spirits 
and soon had called together all the children of 
the neighborhood. They all agreed to the rules, ten 


THE HEALTH CRUSADE 


155 



“i WOULD SUGGEST A HEALTH CRUSADE” 


in number. Each member of the Crusade had to 
swear to all the rules every day. When the Doctor 
saw them posted on the barn door, he said they 
were very good rules. 

1. I go to bed at seven o’clock and rise at seven. 

2. I drink four glasses of water a day. 

3. I take a bath with warm water and soap twice 
a week. 




























156 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


4. I eat my iron in the form of lima beans, 
cereals, raisins, prunes, and other fruits. 

5. I drink milk every day, but no tea or coffee. 

6. I eat whole-wheat bread with butter. 

7. I have my sweets in the form of raisins, 
dates, maple sugar or honey. 

8. I eat fresh vegetables. 

9. I chew my food well and brush my teeth. 

10. I do my work and play my games with a 

smile. 

It wasn’t long before the entire neighborhood was 
interested and the number of Knights and Ladies 
grew to a large list. The hikes and picnics were 
great fun, and it seemed as though the vacation 
days flew by on wings. 

In spite of the Health Crusade, a few of the lit¬ 
tle boys and girls did not gain as they should. The 
doctor lent his scales, and each week the Crusaders 
went down to the office to be weighed. 

“Have the good Crusaders any way of checking 
up on the poor Crusaders?” asked the doctor. 

“No, sir,” said Jimmie. “We haven’t. In fact, we 
decided not to check up. Everybody has to do his 


THE HEALTH CRUSADE 


157 



THEIR HIKES WERE GREAT FUN 


own marking. We can’t go to every house every 
day to see who drinks milk and who doesn’t. The 
ones who don’t obey the rules are cheating them¬ 
selves. They certainly aren’t cheating us.” 

“Then how do you decide who is to belong?” 
asked the doctor. 

“By results,” said Jimmie promptly. “A Crusader 
has to be clean. He has to pass endurance tests. 
He has to show improvement.” 











158 


HAPPY HEALTH STORIES 


“Sometimes,” said Betty, “some of the children 
think they are fooling us. But some one nearly 
always tells, or they get ashamed and admit that 
they haven’t followed the rules. We always give 
them another chance.” 

“Getting a lot of fun out of it, aren’t you?” asked 
the doctor, as he surveyed the bright, pink-cheeked 
children before him. 

“Yes, we are,” they agreed, one and all. 

That’s how Jimmie and Betty gained happiness 
as well as health. For health is a matter of rules, 
and happiness comes with service—passing what 
you know along to the next one. 


THE HEALTH CRUSADE 


159 


What Can We Do? 

Who were the Crusaders? 

What can we do to be Health Crusaders? 

Which one of the rules is about rest? 

Which ones have to do with cleanliness? 

Do you remember the two that tell what and 
how much children ought to drink every day? 

There are four rules about foods. What kinds 
of foods do these rules mention? 

Is the rule about work and play important? 

Do boys and girls need both work and play to 
live the right way? 

What has the smile to do with health? 

Do you think healthy children are good-natured 
as a rule? 

Have you known children who were cross when 
they did not feel well? 

Are the ten rules easy to remember? They are 
like the vows that the Knights took when they 
became true Knights. 

Are you a Knight or a Lady in the big Health 
Crusade? If you are, I am certain that you’re a 
very healthy, happy and agreeable child. 


ABOUT THE BOOK 


Happy Health Stories is planned for use in fourth grade 
classes to supplement the work of the teacher in outlining 
the high points of the health program. It stresses the re¬ 
lation of the balanced diet and health practices to growth, 
physical vigor and mental development. 

The logic of teaching health facts in simple stories of 
child life is apparent when we recall that each theme of 
the health regimen involves naturally the social side of 
life. Glimpses of home and school life, suggestions from 
the classroom, and happenings on the playground enliven 
the presentation of factual material. Humorous slants 
and fanciful touches at intervals appeal to the child’s 
love of entertainment. 

Where explanation of elements of nutrition require use 
of certain words for which there is no substitute, simple 
detailed definition and explanation do away with the sense 
of difficulty associated with the learning of technical 
terms. 

The little stories stress the importance of wholesome 
food, showing the value of milk and fresh fruits and vege¬ 
tables by explaining the nutritive properties of the several 
types of foods and their usefulness for the purposes of 
body building. 


160 



























































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